How often is water found under crawspaces?

7 years ago

Of the past five houses I've looked at have all had a dampness under the craw space. Is this typically present under craw spaces? (North Carolina triangle area) Is this an instant deal breaker for you to not even pursue a property if you notice dampness under a crawl space?

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Comments (13)

midcenturymodernlove
7 years ago
You should be seeing vapor barriers on top of the ground in the crawl space. If there isn't one, there needs to be one.
chispa
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
We had signs of water in our crawlspace and we live in an area that barely gets rain! Turned out to be the lack of gutters and the roof design. Luckily the inspection happened during a rare rainy day and we could see all the water accumulate in one roof valley and pour right into the crawlspace access point. We added gutters and drains around the house and have never had water in the crawlspace again. Sometimes it can be a relatively easy fix.
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kirkhall
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Damp, or wet? There is a difference. Every one of them should have a vapor barrier, and if it is damp under the barrier, it is doing its job. If it is wet under, that is a different story.

ETA: Not a deal breaker. Our house was wet under (in the PNW). We factored in to our offer price that we'd need new drainage solution installed. Been dry ever since we installed it. You need to take a look around at what is causing the wetness. If high water table, that would be different set of things to consider than gutters draining into the crawl or improperly sloped front yard, etc.
ncrealestateguy
7 years ago
I see it quite often and most of the time it is a problem with negative drainage on the outside of the house and / or gutters not being drained away from the house. Not a deal breaker, but something that needs to be fixed.
User
7 years ago
Ours has water in one area under the vapor barrier. We are watching it. The thought right now is that it might be a little spring. If it is we will probably want to find a solution. Otherwise, our home is new so it might go away...or so some claim...
homechef59
7 years ago
I live in a 70 year old home. The crawl space is dry. Because we are in a high humidity area, it can get a little musty. We can't cover the entire crawl with a barrier because of mechanicals and obstructions. But, we have a dehumidifier that removes a lot of the humidity and musty odor. Part of living in an old house. If there is a damp spot, running or pooling water in the crawl, it's a problem.
ncrealestateguy
7 years ago
One of the best things I have done to my home was to totally encapsulate my crawlspaces. They do not get above 30% relative humidity now. Before, especially in the Fall, it would actually "rain" from the insulation and joists, just from condensation.
User
7 years ago
Interestingly, in high summer humidity Charleston, SC, the solution was a plastic vapor barrier on the soil and thermostatically controls on the vents - shut during the winter, open during the summer.

The moisture primarily comes up from the soil -
jrb451
7 years ago
Last I'd heard about using this process down south was to avoid vents altogether. The reasoning I was told was that the warmer humid air would enter the cooler crawl space in the summer and condense leaving moisture.
nini804
7 years ago
We are in NC. Our previous house had a vented crawl space with a vapor barrier. Our crawl stayed dry, but I think that was mainly bc that home was at the top of a steep hill and we had excellent grading and a good gutter system. We did an encapsulated crawl with no vents in the custom home we built 5 years ago. The air under there is conditioned. It is great...and I swear we seem to get less spiders and other bugs in the house! It is also good for helping to keep our hardwoods from too much seasonal movement. It seems to help stabilize the humidity levels in the house.
Lys
7 years ago
Dampness in the crawl space is not usually a problem. The inspection should check if there is a sump pump and if it's working properly. Also, during the termite inspection (which is required in my area -- termites like damp), the moisture levels in the crawl space are measured, and you will get recommendations if they are improper (such as installing a vapor barrier). And I agree with the gutters. For some reason we had one gutter that due to the inclination was sending water towards the house. We moved it, installed an extra gutter on the other side of the house, and added a window well to a vent that was too close to the ground. It helped a lot. And we are on top of a small mound, but some places are just damp.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
" We did an encapsulated crawl with no vents in the custom home we built 5 years ago. The air under there is conditioned."

You heated and cooled the crawl space? Wow!
loto1953
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
We built a new home about 3 years ago and went with a conditioned crawl space. The concrete foundation walls were 4' tall and I poured 4" of concrete in the floor of the crawl then I had closed cell foam sprayed on the concrete foundation walls and rim joists. The Geothermal unit is in the crawl and there is one vent but I have it 1/2 closed because it is so easy to keep about 65 degrees. I kept a de-humidifier in the crawl for about a year and it never ran so I took it out. We have hardwood floors (full 3/4" in almost all rooms except the bedrooms and bathrooms and I didn't want to take a chance of any moisture or excess humidity in the crawl.