Water Damaged Crawl Spaces Can Cause Structural Leveling

Crawl spaces that haven been extensively damaged by water, can lead a to structural leveling in a home, which causes all kinds of problems for homeowners. When a crawl space suffers from water damage the floor joists and beams become weaker. The joists and beams are what holds the house structurally sound and keeps it level. When these beams and joists become weak, they can no longer support the weight of the home and that is when you get structural leveling.

When a home starts to level due to a water-damaged crawl space it can spell disaster for a homeowner. If you are unsure if your home is showing any signs of leveling, here are some things to look for:

• cracks in the foundation walls
• sagging or sloped floors
• gaps between walls or doorways
• cracks in exterior brickwork

So, how do you prevent your home from having structural damage? You can simply take some preventative measures to help ensure that your crawl space is well protected against having constant water exposure. Moisture and humidity that is constantly in the crawl space is the biggest concern when it comes to water damage in a crawl space. By simply keeping your air in your crawl space dry, you can save your home from being seriously damaged.

Most older homes, up until a few years ago, had a vent system installed in their crawl space that was supposed to help with the moisture problem. Now, it is known that these vent systems actually do more harm than good and can actually cause more moisture to gather in the crawl space. To solve the problem of excess moisture under your home, you need to have a crawl space encapsulation done.

When a crawl space encapsulation is performed, the whole space under your home is protected with a vapor barrier and insulated to protect it from excess moisture entering into the space. The vents are blocked off and the whole crawl space is closed off from the outside. This keeps the moisture out and also helps to keep the air temperature regulated in the crawl space.

If you already have structural leveling than you are going to need to hire a contractor to come and repair your foundation. You will also need to have your crawl space encapsulated as well. If you don't fix the cause of the problem it is just going to happen again and you don't want to keep having to fix your foundation, as you are only weakening your house and may even be causing the value of your home to go down.

The best way to prevent structural leveling in you home is to take the proactive route and have your crawl space encapsulated to prevent the area from being weakened by water damage.