Do you find yourself worrying about water in your crawl space? It’s a common worry during the wet Northwest winters and is completely founded given that this water can lead to mold and structural damage. A sump pump is an excellent solution for flooded areas and to prevent flooding in the first place. Find out more about why you need a crawl space sump pump.
When you’re dealing with water damage, you’re talking about home repairs that end up costing several thousand dollars at the minimum.
While it’s frustrating to know that you have so many potential problems to deal with as a homeowner, this is one of the issues that’s usually preventable. Installing a crawl space sump pump is one solution that you should take seriously when it’s time to prepare your home for weather and climate issues.
Here is the full rundown of the importance of using a sump pump in your crawl space.
Water From Below Grade is Dangerous
If you live in a wet region or just a region with a regular rainy season, you could end up dealing with water that’s under your house. The crawl space or unfinished basement at your house may be permanently wet. Even if you don’t see water or it hasn’t rained in a while, it’ll be moist whether you realize it or not.
When it rains, that water is going to cause the wet area to expand from a few inches to several feet wide. An area that was somewhat damp then becomes a pool of water.
During the dryer months, your pool may shrink a bit but there’s often enough water to cause perennial trouble.
When you have water like this, you need a solution. While there are seasonal issues, you need a tool to help you get rid of the water all year long.
If you don’t live in a rainy area but you still have moisture in your crawl space, you’ll need to check your water supply, drain pipes, and any nearby water source. There could be water coming in unexpectedly and causing trouble from leaks.
If this is the issue, the problem is with plumbing and a sump pump won’t help.
After you’ve inspected everything, if your pipes all look to be in order, yet you still see moisture, you need to find a solution ASAP.
Water is More Than Just An Irritation
While you might think that water is merely an irritating and unwelcome element in your home, it’s more than just a small issue. Water problems could be responsible for long-term structural problems and even health issues.
When you have water in your crawl space, you also have mold in your crawl space. Any time you have too much water and no light, you end up with mold growing because of the moisture. It’s the ideal condition for unwanted mold to start infesting your home.
Mold can grow on ducts, joists, piers and any hard surface in your crawl space. If you have softer materials like insulation or even wood, mold is going to start eating into that material. This is a challenge because you can’t easily remove and replace these softer materials.
Water problems lead to mold. When you have mold, you have a serious problem that’s going to lead to bills and headaches.
Water Mediation is the Solution
While water threatens to give you structural problems, you could end up with mold and mildew that lead to health issues. A flood in your home that starts at your crawl space introduces moisture all around your home. That moisture, even after the water is gone, leads to the mold that’s going to cause you to have mold growing around you.
Water mediation helps to deal with a flood as soon as it happens. This minimizes the lasting damage done from your crawl space on up.
The best step in water mediation is preventative mediation. The tool for preventing the need for water mediation is a sump pump. When a system is installed into your crawl space, water is safely rerouted out of there.
When water is removed in advance, you don’t have to deal with water damage, cleaning up mold, remediation, or dealing with any insects. While a few inches of water might seem like a temporary problem, it leads to long-lasting issues with your home.
Install a Sump Pump
A sump pump is a pretty common piece of equipment to find in crawl spaces. If you’ve ever been in a home with a crawl space and hear a click at night followed by a running motor, you’ve encountered a sump pump.
Sump pumps aren’t a luxury item. They’re a basic necessity when you have a home that’s close to the ground and could be dealing with a few inches of water from a flood. A sump pump installation pays for itself the first time your neighbor’s home floods because they didn’t have one.
Sump pumps reduce or even fully eliminate the damage from water by dragging it away from your home when a storm hits.
If your crawl space doesn’t already have a sump pump, you need to install one to keep away from problems with groundwater seepage.
When a sump pump is installed, trenches are dug around the crawl space and all around it. Then corrugated drain pipes are added. They’re surrounded by lava rock to keep dirt out.
Excess water is directed toward a large basin at the lowest point in the crawlspace.
Your pump is then installed toward an exterior gutter to ensure that water is removed from your home. With a backflow device in place, water is kept out once it’s pumped out. The best systems even connect the device to a battery backup to ensure it still runs in case the storm causes a power outage.
A Crawl Space Sump Pump is Essential
If you have a crawl space sump pump installation is a must. Without a sump pump, you’re going to potentially incur unnecessary repairs that are frustrating and costly. Worse, you could be introducing mold that leads to or exacerbates any breathing issues your family already has.
A sump pump eliminates the concern and worry of mold, property damage and pests in your crawl space.
Contact Crawl Pros today for a solution to your wet crawl space. We service customers in the Seattle, Tacoma, Portlandand Spokane areas. We can provide an estimate for our services in as little as a day.