Crawl Space Services In Indianapolis, IN

Indiana spring weather can and usually does bring heavy amounts of rain. For those homeowners who live above a crawl space, spring tends to be a very problematic time of the year. The melting of snow combined with the intense rain leads to many water problems for Indiana crawl spaces. The outside soil becomes very saturated with water, allowing moisture and water to seep through foundation blocks and rise through the ground and into the crawl space. Without a proper crawl space drainage system, this water in the crawl space than begins to add additional problems for the house. Standing water in your crawl space causes musty smells in the living area, possible mold growth on the structure components, and expensive crawl space wood damage. 40% of the air in the upstairs living area actually comes from the crawl space. This is caused by stack effect, or the natural air flow of the home being from bottom to top. The air flow carries with it the moisture, mold spores, and smells from the crawl space into the living area. Which is why the health of your crawl space is such an important issue not only for your crawl space, but for the rest of the living area in your home. Ensuring your crawl space stays healthy starts by keeping your crawl space dry from standing water. This can be done by a number of methods, including crawl space drainage systems, sump pumps, downspout extensions, and even going further by installing a crawl space encapsulation system. Benefits of a crawl space encapsulation system range from removing musty smells to lowering energy cost. To find out more information on how to keep your crawl space healthy click here or visit www.swaincollc.com  

DownSpout Extensions-Why and How

For many Indiana homeowners, extending your downspouts away from your home can have many benefits. Especially when installed correctly. One benefit of extending your downspouts away from your home is that it will greatly reduces your chance for potential foundation issues down the road. When downspouts are not extended the water is dumping usually right next to your foundation. This excess amount of water will expand, and erode soil around your foundation, which in return can cause structure foundation issues such as settling. Extending the downspouts can also help cut down on the amount of water or moisture that gets into your crawl space. As mentioned before, when not extended, downspouts allow large amounts of water to be dumped next to your homes foundation. This water can also tend to seep thru the foundation and into the crawl space. To give you an idea of the amount of water your downspouts can produce consider this. One inch of rain on a 1200 sq.ft. home produces about 750 gallons of water. That is a lot of water to be dumping right next to your homes foundation. Also you want to be sure that the downspout extensions your installing are done correctly. A few things to stay from when installing downspout extensions. First thing I would recommend would be to always use a solid form of pipe or tile to extend your downspouts, whether you extend them underground or above. I have seen many houses who have downspout extensions running into a perforated pipe or tile. This still allows the water to seep out next to the foundation. A solid pipe or tile will prevent this seepage from happening. Be sure to extend them far enough away so that the water isn't making its way back toward your foundation. As far as what type of solid pipe or tile to use really depends on your preference. I typically would recommend a solid 4" PVC type of pipe, such as a schedule 40. I recommend this because this type of downspout extension has a few more benefits than other forms of solid pipe, such as flex tile. Downspout extensions can tend to get clogged with roof debris and leaves. With a solid PVC type of downspout extension, they can easily be snaked to relive any type of clog. This is much harder with a solid flex tile. Also, if your downspout extension is going to be installed underground in an area where heavy equipment or cars may be crossing over, a solid PVC type of downspout extension proves to be much stronger as well. To find out more information on downspout extensions and other crawl space issues visit www.swaincollc.com