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I would ask this contractor where he thinks the water is coming from. While everything he listed sounds like a good plan, if the cause of the water is not corrected, you are really not solving the problem.
Are you gutters and downspouts directing the water away from the foundation?
Is the ground around the house sloped AWAY from the foundation?
One of the gutters wasn't directing water away from the foundation for quite a bit until it was pointed out to us and repaired. How long it wasn't directing water away from the foundation remains a mystery. I'll have to check the ground when its daylight but I'm pretty sure it is sloped correctly. Would you guys also recommend not doing any work to the crawl space until we know where the water is coming from? If the contractor charges extra money to look for the water source should we just walk away and find another company?
Take another look at the downspouts. Water under a house almost always comes from the roof or a plumbing leak. There also may be a problem with the perimeter drain around the foundation. Find out where it discharges, then stick a garden hose into the spot where the downspout connects to the perimeter drain and see if it is collapsed or plugged. You can dig out the whole foundation and install a new perimeter drain for way less than $12,000. In the old days they used corrugated ADS and pea gravel fill. That's wrong. Use perforated PVC with 2" washed drain rock fill and it won't plug up.
You should have a 6 mil visqueen moisture barrier in the crawl space, and make sure you have plenty of ventilation.
Take another look at the downspouts. Water under a house almost always comes from the roof or a plumbing leak. There also may be a problem with the perimeter drain around the foundation. Find out where it discharges, then stick a garden hose into the spot where the downspout connects to the perimeter drain and see if it is collapsed or plugged. You can dig out the whole foundation and install a new perimeter drain for way less than $12,000. In the old days they used corrugated ADS and pea gravel fill. That's wrong. Use perforated PVC with 2" washed drain rock fill and it won't plug up.
You should have a 6 mil visqueen moisture barrier in the crawl space, and make sure you have plenty of ventilation.
That's interesting he was recommending a 20 mil barrier, is thicker not the better choice?
Take another look at the downspouts. Water under a house almost always comes from the roof or a plumbing leak. There also may be a problem with the perimeter drain around the foundation. Find out where it discharges, then stick a garden hose into the spot where the downspout connects to the perimeter drain and see if it is collapsed or plugged. You can dig out the whole foundation and install a new perimeter drain for way less than $12,000. In the old days they used corrugated ADS and pea gravel fill. That's wrong. Use perforated PVC with 2" washed drain rock fill and it won't plug up.
You should have a 6 mil visqueen moisture barrier in the crawl space, and make sure you have plenty of ventilation.
Third time in a month and never before since they got the home in 26 years. 6 inches of water?
I'd call a plumber for an inspection - you can go on Thumbtack or Home Advisor and list the problem (in detail) and ask how much to troubleshoot the problem. Plumbers will bid on the job and you can read their ratings and customer comments. The good ones have background checks documented on their profile. If you decide on a plumber I wouldn't discuss with him the remediation advice or expense the other contractor gave you. If you say "he was going to charge me $12,000" some guys will say, "we'll solve this for $8000", then do an $800 repair.
Let's think about sources.
-Washing machine drain? That's a lot of water that dumps. Does the water smell like anything?
-Shower/tub drain?
-Water main - but that would be a constant flow in, not intermittent.
-What about the vent pipe? (anyone) Would a clogged vent pipe cause water to show up elsewhere?
-Do you have a hot water/boiler heating system?
Your home is at the age that a good plumbing inspection wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. Don't go throwing money at it, imo, until you can figure out what exactly you're trying to correct. Gotta start at the source! Someone out there will figure it out. You haven't hit the right person.
ETA: a good plumber can help you out with mold prevention/abatement. Don't get all "Black Mold" freaked out. Read up on it.
I know exactly which system you have been recommended, because that's the same one I have installed. although mine was done in stages. I would definitely recommend that you find out what the source of your water intrusion is before you shell out for the complete encapsulation/remediation remedy. It might save you a lot of money. In the case of my house, I knew that the constant rising water came from the extremely high water table here near the river, and the low-lying nature of my lot. I also have an old house, and the constant damp and moisture issues were affecting the joists. Initially I had the vents sealed, the crawlspace encapsulated with the 20 mil. liner (which I highly recommend, btw), and the dehumidifier installed by a local firm. I later added the French drain and the sump pumps to deal with heavier water intrusions from sustained rains and large snows. My sump pumps empty to a rock-lined drainage swale on one side of the house and the street-side ditch on the other.
On a side note, the company that did the French drain and sump pumps also installed a SaniDry CX to replace my initial unit. It was absolutely terrible - incredibly noisy and ran practically all the time (found out they come from China now). I replaced it myself (well, the local plumber did) with a direct-buy unit from Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Advance 2. That thing works like a charm and keeps the humidity around 43%, even during this past month when the sump pumps have been running pretty much every day. My crawlspace is only 2 ft. high, so it's a challenge to work in there, but the plumbers really appreciate the clean and dry area.
Third time in a month and never before since they got the home in 26 years. 6 inches of water?
I'd call a plumber for an inspection - you can go on Thumbtack or Home Advisor and list the problem (in detail) and ask how much to troubleshoot the problem. Plumbers will bid on the job and you can read their ratings and customer comments. The good ones have background checks documented on their profile. If you decide on a plumber I wouldn't discuss with him the remediation advice or expense the other contractor gave you. If you say "he was going to charge me $12,000" some guys will say, "we'll solve this for $8000", then do an $800 repair.
Let's think about sources.
-Washing machine drain? That's a lot of water that dumps. Does the water smell like anything?
-Shower/tub drain?
-Water main - but that would be a constant flow in, not intermittent.
-What about the vent pipe? (anyone) Would a clogged vent pipe cause water to show up elsewhere?
-Do you have a hot water/boiler heating system?
Your home is at the age that a good plumbing inspection wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. Don't go throwing money at it, imo, until you can figure out what exactly you're trying to correct. Gotta start at the source! Someone out there will figure it out. You haven't hit the right person.
ETA: a good plumber can help you out with mold prevention/abatement. Don't get all "Black Mold" freaked out. Read up on it.
You know that's funny a family friend was saying they'd recommend a plumber to us, sounds like maybe we should start from there instead of doing a full remediation? And I'm not sure what you mean here by $800, did you mean to type $8000 twice?
Quote:
Originally Posted by QIS
Hunter is on the right track for sure- get more info, more education, and more bids.
That's what I'm starting to think as well, I'm concerned though that if we wait too long we'll risk foundation damage, but on the other hand an informed decision is usually always the better choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungalove
I know exactly which system you have been recommended, because that's the same one I have installed. although mine was done in stages. I would definitely recommend that you find out what the source of your water intrusion is before you shell out for the complete encapsulation/remediation remedy. It might save you a lot of money. In the case of my house, I knew that the constant rising water came from the extremely high water table here near the river, and the low-lying nature of my lot. I also have an old house, and the constant damp and moisture issues were affecting the joists. Initially I had the vents sealed, the crawlspace encapsulated with the 20 mil. liner (which I highly recommend, btw), and the dehumidifier installed by a local firm. I later added the French drain and the sump pumps to deal with heavier water intrusions from sustained rains and large snows. My sump pumps empty to a rock-lined drainage swale on one side of the house and the street-side ditch on the other.
On a side note, the company that did the French drain and sump pumps also installed a SaniDry CX to replace my initial unit. It was absolutely terrible - incredibly noisy and ran practically all the time (found out they come from China now). I replaced it myself (well, the local plumber did) with a direct-buy unit from Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Advance 2. That thing works like a charm and keeps the humidity around 43%, even during this past month when the sump pumps have been running pretty much every day. My crawlspace is only 2 ft. high, so it's a challenge to work in there, but the plumbers really appreciate the clean and dry area.
I never thought about doing it in stages, that's something I'll run by my brother.
So starting with the plumber our family friend recommends is a good start?
The other thing our family friend mentioned is the company that was recommended to us is based about 2 hours away, and they said that could be a contributing factor to the price because we're also paying for their gas, hotels, etc. Is this true?
The ground does seem to slope away from the house btw
Before encapsulating the crawlspace you MUST determine why the water is coming from. I've seen many sealed crawlspaces with water underneath them. Check you gutter system, if you don't have one, get them and divert the roof runoff as far from the structure as practical. Check the soil grade to make sure it moves water away from the house-not toward it. Have someone check the foundation drain to make sure it is functioning. If you don't have a positive drain inside the crawlspace have one installed at the lowest corner and run to daylight outside. Do not connect it to the foundation drain. Worst case you may have to install a perimeter drain in the crawlspace or around the outside (inside is often easier as there is no vegetation to deal with). I would do much of this incrementally not all at one time. Why get full remediation an big bucks when the solution may actually be simple and much less expensive?
That's interesting he was recommending a 20 mil barrier, is thicker not the better choice?
20 mil would be rubber roofing or pond liner thick, and probably overkill. However, you could weld the seams and make it 100% waterproof. It would be a better, and cheaper, solution to remove the source of the water.
20 mil would be rubber roofing or pond liner thick, and probably overkill. However, you could weld the seams and make it 100% waterproof. It would be a better, and cheaper, solution to remove the source of the water.
Rubber roofing is typically EPDM 60 mils or more. 20 mil reinforced poly is commonly used for crawl spaces. The seams are taped together and the walls and piers should be mechanically fastened and taped. You can (but shouldn't) use 6 mil poly if no one will ever need to go in there again. It just won't hold up to any abuse.
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Don't go throwing money at it, imo, until you can figure out what exactly you're trying to correct. Gotta start at the source! Someone out there will figure it out. You haven't hit the right person.
