How To Keep Water Out of Your Crawl Space

7/15/2021 (Permalink)

You may not always know you have a wet crawl space unless it turns into a mold problem, but you can take measures to prevent it.

How To Keep Water Out of Your Crawl Space

A wet crawl space is not something you want to ignore. While it may not seem to affect your home, unattended leaks can cause mold growth that only restoration experts can combat. There are several ways that water can get into the crawl space, but fortunately, there are also ways to prevent it.

Proper Gutter Care

Common culprits in crawl space flooding are your gutters. There are several ways your gutters could cause moisture problems:

• Gutters clogged with dirt or debris
• Downspouts pointed toward house
• Missing or damaged downspout
• Cracked gutters
  
  

The solution to this problem is simple. Take good care of your gutters, and they will do the job they are designed to do, which is directing water away from your home instead of toward it.

Smart Landscaping

Another thing you can do to direct water away from your house and avoid a wet crawl space is to make sure you have a slope away from the foundation. It should slope 6-8 inches, and you need to check it periodically to make sure that it hasn't been washed out by rainfall or lawn care. You can also protect your crawl space by not overwatering the flower beds that are close to your house. Don't leave the water running unattended. Give the plants just what they need to thrive and turn the water off.

Home Inspection

Water leaks in your home can trickle to your crawl space. It's best to catch the leak before it gets there, not just so you can fix the source of the problem but also so that you can do so while the problem is still confined to an area that is easy to access. If you notice signs of a flood in your home in Leawood, KS, call repair technicians as soon as possible to avoid leaks into lower areas of your home.

You may not always know you have a wet crawl space unless it turns into a mold problem, but you can take measures to prevent it. Protecting the area at the foundation of your home is essential to keeping your home free from water damage.