Crawl Space Drainage Systems in Indianapolis

Wet Crawl Space in Indianapolis

Due to the large amount of water that the Indianapolis area has seen in the last few weeks, many crawlspaces in Indianapolis are experiencing water problems. A flooded crawl space can cause major issues for an Indianapolis homeowner. Water in your crawl space is the number one cause for crawl space mold, crawl space wood damage, and possible crawl space foundation failure. During heavy periods of rain, a crawl space will typically get water seeping in the foundation walls or coming up through the ground as the water table raises. A sump basin and sump pump alone will help keep standing water in your crawl space down but will not eliminate it completely. To ensure your crawl space stays dry permanently, a full perimeter drainage system needs to be installed. A full perimeter crawl space drainage system will greatly reduce the chance of crawl space problems such as crawl space mold and crawl space wood damage. If your crawl space gets standing water or your unsure if your crawl space gets wet, call SwainCo. at 317-294-5278 for a free inspection and estimate on how to keep your crawl space problem free permanently. Or visit www.swaincollc.com for more information on Indianapolis crawl space repairs.

Steps To Maintaining A Dry Indianapolis Crawl Space

Although a wet crawl space can be very problematic for many Indianapolis homeowners, there are steps that can be taken to help possible prevent a wet crawl space for occurring. These steps are considered necessary in helping your home have a healthy, dry crawl space.

Step 1. Check All Downspouts
Runoff water from your roof can produce a great amount of water. On an average 1200 sq. ft. roof, 1" of rain can produce approximately 750 gallons of water. That is alot of water running through your gutter system and down though your downspouts. If your downspouts are not extended out away from your home, then this water is being dumped right next to your homes foundation. This water can then make it's way through your foundation walls and into your crawl space or basement. Downspouts that dumped directly next to your homes foundation can also lead to expensive foundation failure. It's important to check all your homes downspouts and ensure that they are proper extended away from your homes foundation. If your in need of proper downspout extensions please visit www.swaincollc.com or call 317-294-5278 for a free inspection.

Step 2. Keep Gutters Clean
As mentioned in step one, your roof produces a great amount of water. If your gutters are not properly cleaned out, this water has nowhere to go but over the top of your gutters and down next to your perimeter foundation of your home. This can cause your foundation walls to leak water into your crawl space or basement. Be sure to check your gutters on a regularly basis to help prevent water infiltration into your crawl space or basement.

Step 3. Check Sump Pumps
Many homeowners realize they have a sump pump problem after their crawl space or basement has flooded. This can be prevented by checking and cycling your sump pump of a regularly basis. If you have a battery back-up sump pump in your basement, it too needs to be checked and cycled. Finding out your battery back up sump pump doesn't work after the fact can be very problematic and costly. If your basement does not have a battery back-up sump pump, it would be recommended to considered it. Also, if your crawl space does not have a sump pump and appears to get standing water after heavy rains, installing a sump pump may keep you from having standing water. For more information about sump pumps visit our website www.swaincollc.com. Or call for a free inspection 317-294-5278.

Step 4. Check Yard Grade
Negative yard grade simply means your yard slopes to your house and not away from your house. This can cause excessive amounts of rain water to be directed to your homes foundation. This water can then cause seepage through your foundation walls and possible standing water in your crawl space or basement. It can also lead to possible foundation failure. Be sure to check your yards grade. If you do have negative grade be sure to take corrective steps to raise this. At times, raising your dirt level next to your house is not always possible due to the type of house or the type of construction. If this is the cause, it is recommended that proper drainage be installed around the perimeter of your home. If you think your home may need grading help or even drainage solutions please visit our website for more information at www.swaincollc.com or call 317-294-5278 for a free inspection.

For additional information on all things crawl space or basement please visit www.swaincollc.com. We are Indiana's original crawl space experts. From sump pump installations to full perimeter lifetime warranty drainage systems, SwainCo. has the knowledge and experience to help you solve all your crawl space and basement problems.

Crawl Space Insulation

Winter is here, and now is the time to start considering how best to insulate your crawl space. Especially if you are having issues with cold floors and cold rooms. A very common practice with Indiana crawl spaces is to use fiberglass insulation between the floor joist in the crawl space. Depending on the amount of water or moisture your crawl space gets, fiberglass insulation can sometimes do more harm than good. If your crawl space tends to get large amounts of water or moisture, fiberglass insulation will tend to work like a sponge. As the moisture rises with the natural air flow of the home (stack effect) it is absorbed in the fiberglass insulation. This will make the insulation much heavier allowing for a better chance of the fiberglass insulation to fall from the floor joist onto the crawl space floor. Moisture being trapped in the insulation also raises the concern for increased chance or wood rot. This is because the moisture is trapped in the insulation that is installed between your floor joist, increasing the moisture content of those floor joist. If your crawl space has very low amounts of water or moisture, than fiberglass insulation in the floor joist can be effective. Another form of insulation used commonly in Indiana crawl spaces is spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation can be effective, but only if done on the foundation walls and not the structure wood elements. Spray foam insulation installed on the structure wood elements will allow moisture to be trapped between the spray foam and the structure wood. This will increase the chance of wood rot by a great amount. It will also make it very difficult to replace if it does rot because the spray foam will have to be removed. Foam board insulation on the foundation walls is a very good type of insulation to use in the crawl space. This type of insulation can be installed directly on the foundation walls. The seams can also be sealed with a waterproof tape. For more information on crawl space insulation or to find out if your crawl space needs insulation visit www.swaincollc.com or call 317-828-7897

A Vapor Barrier Alone May Not Be Enough

When dealing with high levels of moisture coming from a crawl space, a simple 6mill vapor barrier may not be enough to reduces and eliminate those high levels of moisture. Here is a few reasons why. First we have to look at what is causing the high moisture levels in the crawl space. If standing water is an issue than installing a vapor barrier alone would do little if any to help the matter. In fact with out some type of drainage system and a pit/pump, a vapor barrier alone could possibly make things worse by allowing the water to sit on top of the barrier with no where to go but up into the living areas. If standing water is not an issue than more than likely you are getting the unwanted moisture in your crawl space from 3 possible areas. First would be the crawl space dirt floor. Moisture is always constantly coming out the dirt floor ground in you crawl space. This moisture than moves with the nature air flow of the home, which is from bottom to top, or what some refer to as stack effect. Stack effect is the reason we see moisture in the crawl space causing issues in the living area, such as mold, buckled or warped floors and even moisture on the windows. A simple 6mill vapor barrier laid across the entire crawl space floor will help keep moisture from the dirt crawl space floor from getting into your crawl space of the living areas of the home. The moisture is simple somewhat encapsulated under this barrier. But a 6mill vapor barrier is recommended to be installed a few inches away from the walls due to block seepage and it is not a complete seal of the dirt crawl space floor, so there are still areas that moisture may be able to come up through the dirt crawl space floor. Even with a vapor barrier we still have two other areas that moisture is able to get into your crawl space that a simple vapor barrier cannot address. The second area is the foundation walls. Whether they are block, poured, or stone, foundation walls tend to seep moisture. Although most homes built in the last 40 yrs would have some type of waterproof membrane on the exterior side of your foundation, these tend to not last very long. And areas that have a high water table can cause the seepage of moisture through your block walls to increase as well, adding to the unwanted high moisture levels in your crawl space. The last place your crawl space may be getting moisture from is your vents. Although they were intended to help keep you crawl space dry, they may in fact be doing the exact opposite. Consider this, on a hot humid day in the middle of the summer when your vents are to be open, the outside air has a large amount of moisture in it. When that air comes into your crawl space through vents your simply bringing all that moisture in with it. Not to mention if you have duct work in your crawl space this hot humid air is going to make them and pipes as well sweat, thus creating even more unwanted moisture in your crawl space. So to address all these areas that moisture comes from in your crawl space a simple 6mill vapor barrier may not be enough. The only sure way to permanently seal this outside moisture from getting into your crawl space would be a crawl space encapsulation system. To see more information on permanent crawl space solutions such as an encapsulation system visit www.swaincollc.com   

No Mold is Good Mold

A question I seem to get asked often when noticing signs of mold growth in a homeowners crawlspace is whether or not this mold is bad mold, or harmful mold. For this question to be answered one would have to know what type of mold it is. There happen to be estimates that range from thousands of different types of mold to hundreds of thousands of different types. So to be sure on the exact type of mold a homeowner has or even if it is mold, one would need to have it sent off and tested by mold growth experts to determine the type of mold it is. Without going through the headache and exspense of testing mold, perhaps a better answer would be to just simply eliminate any mold growth in a crawlspace best as possible. And of the most effective ways of doing this is to take away one of the things mold needs to survive, MOISTURE. Although their are all kinds of mold sprays or paints that are designed to stop current mold growth, they don't address the cause of mold growth. Meaning a homeowner has to continuously spray every so often to insure that they have no active mold. But if the cause of the mold growth reduced or even eliminated this could save a homeowner hundreds of dollars in the long run by not having to spray the mold so often, hiring a company every other year to do this. A homeowner may also save money by preventing damage to structure components of their home that can be caused by mold growth. But even better is the fact that a homeowner can have a better piece of mind knowing that the upstairs environment is now a healthier environment to live in when there isn't the presence of mold in a crawlspace. In the long run, preventing or stopping moisture issues in a crawlspace, out way the benefits of many other methods that deal with stopping mold growth. To find out more visit www.swaincollc.com or call 317-828-7897
Thanks,
Indiana Crawlspace Waterproofer