How to Fix a Plumbing Leak In Crawl Space

Hello World!  Welcome Friends!  The likelihood of leaking in a home’s crawl space isn’t unusual. Many homes experience that, particularly during the wet spring and humid summer months. It’s crucial to know what causes flooding in your crawl space to avoid the worse and more unpleasant situations caused by permanent damage due to plumbing leaks.

Giving timely attention to this situation can be what you need to prevent it from ever happening again. You can do simple fixes in the plumbing leaks, while you can entrust the more extensive repair jobs by calling an expert to fix your pipes and the surrounding parts of your crawl space.

As a guide, here are proven tips on how to fix plumbing leaks in your crawl space.

1. Maintain the Proper Crawl Space Humidity Levels 

First things first, once your plumbing leaks are solved, you’ll have to proceed with learning what the proper crawl space humidity levels should be. If you’re not able to maintain this, unfortunately, the problems in your crawl space will keep on coming back in due time.

Some of the adverse effects of high humidity in a crawl space include:

• Insulation damage
• Mold and mildew
• Wood rot

Once the crawl space’s wood starts to rot, unfortunately, your home’s stability may also be affected. It can lead to other pressing and expensive concerns like having cracked drywalls and an overall damaged basement. None of those situations is good, so you have to be very keen on ensuring your crawl space humidity levels are always at their best.

2. Have French Drains Installed

A French drain is one of the top solutions by expert plumbing contractors, usually installed outside the home. For a French drain to be inserted, a hired expert will create a ditch around your home’s area. This way, the perforated pipe can fit in. Then, they will pour gravel to cover that up. Through this mechanism, you can effectively redirect water during rainstorms out of your home.

In essence, the French drain prevents the water from seeping through your home’s crawl space. Rather than affecting your home’s foundation, the water goes through the French drain, geared far away from your home.

3. Install a Sump Pump

Apart from a French drain, another solution that may be opted for is a sump pump. It is helpful once you notice that a part of your home floods often.

Ideally, sump pumps are strategically positioned in a way that they’re sitting right on the basement floor. An alternative location can also be underneath a sump pump hole.

This is how it works. Once the water goes through your basement or crawl space, it’s then collected into that sump pump hole. The pump then does its job of redirecting the water away from your house.

4. Get to Know the Signs of a Crawl Space Leak 

It’ll be extra challenging for you to be able to tell or diagnose that a crawl space problem exists if you don’t even know how to determine what the signs of one are. Water leaks can go unnoticed for months. So, it’s a huge plus if you know how to determine whether or not your crawl space has leaks.

As your quick guide, here are four unmistakable signs of a leaking crawl space:

• Warped floorboards;
• Musty smells;
• Damp insulation;
• High water bill.

5. Set Up a Vapor Barrier

A vapor barrier refers to a thick sheet of plastic covering your crawl space’s dirt floor. It is often one of the most overlooked parts, especially in older homes. But, it’s that all-important step to keeping the humidity down so that the insulation also stays dry.

The vapor barrier works to hold the moisture beneath the plastic and away from your flooring’s wood joints. Typically, this is a job best done professionally by the experts. Apart from fixing and preventing future leaks in your crawl space, it helps ensure that the air inside your home is good.

6. Install an Encapsulation System In Your Home

When installing an encapsulation system in your home, your crawl space receives barriers between it and the ground surrounding it. Even during the rainy season, you won’t ever have to worry about standing water in your home again.

Take this as a preventive measure. It’s not always necessary, but it’s a big plus.

Conclusion

While leaking and water in a crawl space is quite a common occurrence, it’s also undeniable how many homeowners still mistakenly think that water in crawl spaces isn’t a huge concern. At the very least, neglecting water concerns heightens the possibility of your home becoming that perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew – that’s just the beginning of so many other problems in your home. Being a good homeowner also entails being proactive about plumbing leaks, so you can stop them from progressing into an even more serious and expensive concern. So, if you don’t want to deal with a bunch of problems, act immediately on one before it causes a chain of household concerns which can be stressful for you.

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