Moisture Problems In Crawl Space (Wilmington: foreclosure, home builders, buying)
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We just had our inspection completed for a home we are planning to buy in Winding River Plantation. I noticed that a couple of homes in WRP we looked at had the crawl space "encapsulated" or sealed. Some of the homes even had dehumidifiers installed in the crawl space. The house we are buying has a moisture problem under the house and the inspection company recommended that we investigate the problem with a contractor.
Is this normal for homes near the water to have this problem? Is this problem unique to WRP? I am thinking if you buy a new house, you wouldn't know about the problem until some time later?
Having always lived in the Northeast it was a basement and the thought was finished or not. Now as we look South it is slab or crawl space. Hopefully we will get lots of input from those who have made the move. Whenever I run the dehumidifier in my PA home I pray that the electric meter doesn't spin off the house. Dehumidifying a crawl space sounds expensive.
We just had our inspection completed for a home we are planning to buy in Winding River Plantation. I noticed that a couple of homes in WRP we looked at had the crawl space "encapsulated" or sealed. Some of the homes even had dehumidifiers installed in the crawl space. The house we are buying has a moisture problem under the house and the inspection company recommended that we investigate the problem with a contractor.
Is this normal for homes near the water to have this problem? Is this problem unique to WRP? I am thinking if you buy a new house, you wouldn't know about the problem until some time later?
This condition is not exclusive to WRP, most of the coastal area has crawl space moisture issues.
I hate below grade spaces!!! But slab on grade is not an option down there given the water table.
We looked at 3 homes under construction in ORP last spring and spoke with the builders about ways to keep the crawl space dry. 2 of them were local home builders and one was a contractor transplant from the NE.
The 2 local builders were encapsulating and dehumidifying the crawl spaces in their homes under construction. The contractor from the NE was not.
Husband is an architect and spoke at length with these guys and has concluded that encapsulation/dehumidifying is the only way to go given the high humidity levels on the coast. I came home and did some quick research and the consequences of not keeping this space as dry as can be is not pleasant and can be extremely costly, wood rot (foundation), mold and bugs (termites).
The good thing for you is that the home inspector caught this and it should become a point of negotiation between you and the seller.
Get a quote for encapsulation from an HVAC engineer.
We just had our inspection completed for a home we are planning to buy in Winding River Plantation. I noticed that a couple of homes in WRP we looked at had the crawl space "encapsulated" or sealed. Some of the homes even had dehumidifiers installed in the crawl space. The house we are buying has a moisture problem under the house and the inspection company recommended that we investigate the problem with a contractor.
Is this normal for homes near the water to have this problem? Is this problem unique to WRP? I am thinking if you buy a new house, you wouldn't know about the problem until some time later?
We've been in our home 11 years in October(Wilmington,N.C.) and have never had a problem in our crawl space. As a matter of fact,termite inspector complimented us on one of his yearly inspections on how clean and dry it is and he has never seen any kind of problems.
I am not happy about the moisture issue at this house. I am thinking of pulling our offer. I am concerned about trying to resell the house and what would be the reaction of potential buyers to the encapsulation issue
I would appreciate more comments from local homeowners/residents on this issue. Thank you RoamRebell!
It is a foreclosure and we buy it "as is", but we may go back to the bank to get a price reduction. We got a really good deal on the house and we like WRP.
FIW please have any property inspected before you purchase. I have a good background in property maintenance and the inspection found issues I missed. One issue will involve hiring a plumber and the other a carpenter/window repair.
Having always lived in the Northeast it was a basement and the thought was finished or not. Now as we look South it is slab or crawl space. Hopefully we will get lots of input from those who have made the move. Whenever I run the dehumidifier in my PA home I pray that the electric meter doesn't spin off the house. Dehumidifying a crawl space sounds expensive.
the location you choose is very important. just because somebody built a house there doesn't make it somewhere you'd want to live.
we don't have much 'high ground' on the coast of nc. we have a lot of housing developments that were built in seasonal wetlands, where mold just naturally grows in the shade. i've even seen a few houses that were actually built in old drainageways, where the ground is muddy most of the time.
I am not happy about the moisture issue at this house. I am thinking of pulling our offer. I am concerned about trying to resell the house and what would be the reaction of potential buyers to the encapsulation issue
I would appreciate more comments from local homeowners/residents on this issue.
Whether you go forward with the bid might depend on the nature of the lot. If it is high and capable of providing a drainage field for a sump pump or dehumidifier, then it might be good.
If the lot has other wet spots, then perhaps you should pull the offer.
the location you choose is very important. just because somebody built a house there doesn't make it somewhere you'd want to live.
we don't have much 'high ground' on the coast of nc. we have a lot of housing developments that were built in seasonal wetlands, where mold just naturally grows in the shade. i've even seen a few houses that were actually built in old drainageways, where the ground is muddy most of the time.
Good points. Combine a poorly drained, clay based soil with hastily built spec housing and that's a bad combination..
Good points. Combine a poorly drained, clay based soil with hastily built spec housing and that's a bad combination..
at least here in wilmington, i haven't seen any clay-based soil. most of ours is sandy, we just have so many areas where the water table sits very close to the soil.
the worst, by far, are the houses built in the upstream branches of tidal creeks, on hydric soils. seems like in the 60's and 70's , people would build houses in the most insane locations.
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