4 Tips for Keeping Your Crawl Space Dry

11/15/2019 (Permalink)

Remove debris from your rain gutters

Here are 4 Ways to Keep the Crawl Space in Your Home Dry

Few things are worse than a wet crawl space. Whether it's due to a home flood or just some seriously dirty gutters, damp, humid conditions beneath your home are virtually never a good idea. Here are four ways to keep the crawl space in your Hyde Park,TX, home dry.

1. Keep Your Gutters Clean

Your home's gutters and downspouts are a dynamic duo that have one main job: to carry water away from your residence. If your gutters are piled high with leaves, sticks, and other debris, they can't complete it. Water instead plummets directly down to the base of your house. From there, it's just a short trip to your crawl space.
To prevent runoff from entering your home, keep your gutters clean and check in regularly with your downspouts to make sure that they haven't been knocked off by animals, kids, or storm damage. Ideally, water should be deposited at least 10 feet away from your home.

2. Check Your Dryer Exhaust Vent

Make sure your dryer exhaust is released outside of your home. A dryer vent that redirects hot, damp air into the crawl space is a recipe for mold and mildew-friendly conditions.

3. Close the Air Vents

Unless you have a family of mischievous talking squirrels living in your crawl space, there's no need for its air vents to be opened. All they do is create an easy route for water to enter the space during a home flood, pipe burst, or similar issue. Keep them closed or, better still, have them sealed off by an experienced water cleanup and restoration company.

4. Seal Up Holes and Cracks

While you're sealing up air vents, you might consider having the crawl space itself sealed, too. Those tiny cracks and holes have a way of adding up and can create a moisture superhighway. Don't forget to look for holes in the ceiling, too.
A damp crawl space can weaken your home structurally and serve as a breeding ground for mold. By taking a few wise measures now, you can reduce your chances of a sodden crawl space after an extra-wet winter or home flood.