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Coming from the Northeast I don't understand the reasoning behind extending and burying the downspouts into the ground using those corrugated pipes instead of using an L shape elbow above grade, gutter contractors extend those tubes to drain water away from the foundation but once the landscapers come around to level the ground and do their landscaping they just crush and bury those tubes in the dirt causing a blockage and water backing up near the foundation thus rendering them useless.
The idea is have a landscaper that doesn’t just crush them. Or as the other poster said, you can use the 4” pvc piping as well. Also, many of these are added after the fact where there’s no landscaper to worry about and the corrugated is way easier to put in in that scenario.
Unfortunately after the builder built our home the landscaper covered most of those exit drains (and cut my internet cable twice in the process during separate weeks of work), there were 9 pipes extended before landscaping was done and now I can only find 2 of them. In hindsight I should have asked the construction manager to remediate this during our first year of ownership where they would fix anything wrong, I was too focused back then on the interior and exterior above grade items so I never gave it a second thought. I venture into the crawlspace to check the walls for any signs of water stains every 3 months, so far haven't noticed anything and the ground is dry so I am considering myself lucky for now.
Coming from the Northeast I don't understand the reasoning behind extending and burying the downspouts into the ground using those corrugated pipes instead of using an L shape elbow above grade, gutter contractors extend those tubes to drain water away from the foundation but once the landscapers come around to level the ground and do their landscaping they just crush and bury those tubes in the dirt causing a blockage and water backing up near the foundation thus rendering them useless.
Erosion and better control of water because you can run them underground anywhere you want. I buried two of mine myself and have another one to do this year. I'm my own landscaper so I have no issues with anyone coming over and crushing them. They are very strong anyways.
Something we see (and repair) often is the builders tie the foundation drain at the lowest corner of the crawlspace to the exterior perimeter drain around the foundation, then forget to bring it to daylight. The perimeter drain fills during rain and water follows the path of least resistance right up the pipe into the crawlspace.
I went through three Santa Fe dehumidifiers in about five years. The customer service is good; they sent out replacement units for free and arranged for the old units to be picked up. But I didn't find them to be any more reliable than the cheaper brands. It's a mystery to me why nobody seems to be able to make a humidifier that can last longer than a year or two -- even in our sealed crawlspace.
Thanks for that info - after reading so many reviews it seems like dehumidifiers in general are very unreliable. That's too bad. Because isn't a dehumidifer basically an air conditioner? It's just the evaporator and condenser are in different locations.
I had my crawl space sealed and an XP90 installed and it could not get the humidity below 65% and ran constantly. It failed after 6 months and Horizon claimed my crawl space was too large for it and tried to get out of replacing it. They ended up replacing after some fighting. I ended up buying an Advance 2 and having it installed along with the XP90. If it fails again I will throw it out and have another Advance 2 installed in its place. With both running , it stays dry (50%) and neither run much.
Thanks for that - they said they have the Santa Fe Advance 2 in stock and they would help me with any warranty repairs. I would just need to drop it off their location in Raleigh.
They also said their customers have been VERY unhappy with the Horizon Titan XP90 and actually don't recommend it.
This thread has been very interesting/informative to read. We are new to the area from New England where we had a foundation/basement/no clay soil, and I don't recall ever really hearing of a "crawlspace" until we started to look at homes to buy here. As we look at older homes (not brand new construction but generally built around 95-02) is there something that we should be on the look-out for when looking into the crawl space? I am nervous that we'll end up buying a mold-infested crawlspace after reading this thread - that might be having impact to the first floor or is infested with critters. I realize we will get an inspection once we make an offer but are there bad signs/symptoms to look for before an offer is made - sorry to be so clueless but this type of foundation / soil and combined w/ the humidity is totally new to us. Thanks!
been living in this townhome on a hill, and obviously there is no french drain in the back, i have an awful moisture problem, and though it's been four years and i bought a dehumidifier from Lowe's i still have awful mold and mildew in my dirt crawl space, with plastic on the floor and the $180 bill from the handyman who covered the vents with some moldable insulating stuff.... i'm at a loss what to do or who to call.... i went to my area NextDoor neighborhood website that i use to ask for recommendations around my area for a good drainage guy, got the name for one, i guess i shouldn't mention his name, but he never showed up, despite 3 or 4 polite reminders from me.
It seems if i want to rip out the insulation, get it better insulated, buy a more expensive dehumidifier this will cost $2 to $3 grand..... almost impossible for an elderly old woman on a fixed income.
GOOD Luck though.... and if you hear about a good drainage guy or reasonable crawl space company, please let me know!!!! bright blessings.
This thread has been very interesting/informative to read. We are new to the area from New England where we had a foundation/basement/no clay soil, and I don't recall ever really hearing of a "crawlspace" until we started to look at homes to buy here. As we look at older homes (not brand new construction but generally built around 95-02) is there something that we should be on the look-out for when looking into the crawl space? I am nervous that we'll end up buying a mold-infested crawlspace after reading this thread - that might be having impact to the first floor or is infested with critters. I realize we will get an inspection once we make an offer but are there bad signs/symptoms to look for before an offer is made - sorry to be so clueless but this type of foundation / soil and combined w/ the humidity is totally new to us. Thanks!
Stick your head in the crawl and see if it smells musty. If you are brave go in there and look around. Look for standing water, mold, or high humidity. Or just let your inspector do that for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ceiligrrl
been living in this townhome on a hill, and obviously there is no french drain in the back, i have an awful moisture problem, and though it's been four years and i bought a dehumidifier from Lowe's i still have awful mold and mildew in my dirt crawl space, with plastic on the floor and the $180 bill from the handyman who covered the vents with some moldable insulating stuff.... i'm at a loss what to do or who to call.... i went to my area NextDoor neighborhood website that i use to ask for recommendations around my area for a good drainage guy, got the name for one, i guess i shouldn't mention his name, but he never showed up, despite 3 or 4 polite reminders from me.
It seems if i want to rip out the insulation, get it better insulated, buy a more expensive dehumidifier this will cost $2 to $3 grand..... almost impossible for an elderly old woman on a fixed income.
GOOD Luck though.... and if you hear about a good drainage guy or reasonable crawl space company, please let me know!!!! bright blessings.
Send a direct message to Sacredgroves. He does crawl space work and made all those great recommendations.
Anyone else have a dehumidifier from a big box store running in their NC crawlspace? I have a Danby dehumidifier from Costco that's been running almost nonstop during warmer weather in my crawlspace since my "commercial" Titan XP90 is out of service most of the time.
I'm pleased with how it's doing - keeping the humidity low and has an automatic pump to keep water out. I'm sure the compressor is not going to last much longer than this upcoming summer.
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