Water in crawl space: is it common in Portland? (Corvallis: buying a house, buying)

[simplejoy]

Inspector has found standing water in crawl space, and more seriously, water intrusion on the back wall. No damage to the foundation is evident yet. Is it common to see things like this in Portland? Not sure whether I still want to buy this house...

[hamellr]

In my experience, not common at all.

[jjpop]

This was the case with our next door neighbor as well as a friend of mine who bought a home in Corvallis, so I'd have to disagree with hamellr. Our neighbors dug a French drain to divert the water from away from the foundation (and hence, under the house). For my friend in Corvallis, as part of the purchase agreement the seller had to install an automatic sump pump under the house that would click on when water started to accumulate.

[Nell Plotts]

It isn't common because homeowners pay attention to that. You may need a 'French drain" on the outside of the foundation wall at issue. While doing that clean the exterior of that wall and apply a product such as ThroSeal (a cementous product you can brush on). Years ago I applied that product when I was 6 months pregnant Thoro - Waterproofing Products

Also take a look at your downspouts. Are they directing water away from the foundation. If you have a drywell for roof runoff is it far enough away from the foundation?

It is unusual for a spring to appear, water in a crawl space is usually from around the foundation.

[Rob Allen]

We had water under the house. We installed the French drain and redirected the downspouts as others have mentioned.

[simplejoy]

Thanks to all~ well, it did rain/hail heavily last week, so maybe the water is acceptable?? still feel it is risky to buy this house though...

[pdxMIKEpdx]

still feel it is risky to buy this house though...

If there is standing water in the crawlspace and water "intrusion" on the back wall..................

All I can say is that unless you really really love this house and can't live without it....I would pass.

You could always call a professional contractor who deals with this kind of stuff (not just a generic home inspector) and find out what you would be getting into financially to rectify the problem.

Did your inspector find any evidence of MOLD?

On second thought, I would run away fast.

[bler144]

Depends on what you mean by 'common' - it certainly happens, but it's generally a sign that proper sloping/drainage isn't happening, and/or that pumping is needed.

Installing a pump system would likely run you about $5k depending on how large a space and how many pumps were needed. In the scope of buying a house, that's a consideration but a drop in the bucket, as it were.

The bigger concern is that you'd want to have an inspector look more closely for signs of dry rot. Assuming it wasn't the only time water has accumulated ever, when you get standing water rot is more likely. [edit - and yes, Mike is right, mold in the walls would be another larger structural concern]

If you catch and fix it before rot sets in, it's probably not a huge deal. But it's certainly something you'd want an inspector to look at more closely. If you already owned the place you could get a contractor to evaluate your options with a free consult.

[simplejoy]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Did your inspector find any evidence of MOLD?

he did find mold in the attic, but no mold in the crawl space... the water intrusion should be a new problem. have got a contractor to come check it tomorrow...

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by simplejoy

he did find mold in the attic, but no mold in the crawl space... the water intrusion should be a new problem. have got a contractor to come check it tomorrow...

Money well spent, in my opinion. I wish we had hired out more sleuthing on our home before we bought it, rather than just rely on the word of the home inspector (who, almost by definition, are often "jack of all (building) trades, master of none).