vike daddy Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, theJ said: Do you think it's necessary to take extra steps to mitigate the water penetration (such a drain system or sump pump)? Or just write it off as a problem that happens every couple of years and forget about it? if it's easy, do it. but it comes down to physical limitations, like can you get in the crawlspace and dig a hole 2-3' deep? you could also ask the neighbors if they have a similar problem regularly, or is it an outlier? Edited April 4, 2019 by vike daddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMashMouthMike Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 Quote Who wants to help brainstorm an ideas with me: Here's the situation - The neighbors house is up slightly higher than our house, so there is a little bit of a grade from their house to our house. Wouldn't be a huge issue, but for the fact that our house is very close to the fence on that side, so we have house - sidewalk - 4" of space - chain link fence. I'm trying to figure out a way to stop water from snow/rain/ice from running into my yard, across the sidewalk and seeping into the basement. I have created a little ditch as well as I can to help with rain, but right now with snow were getting a little water seeping in. There are also a few trees in the fence as well making things more interesting. Quote Found water in my crawl space after a heavy rain the other day. Debating whether it's a sign of something bad, or just because the water had no where else to go. No pipe leaks, no cracks in foundation that i could see. No sign of mold. The grading around the house is pretty good. Best i can tell, the ground was still frozen due to recent temperatures, and the water just went where it could. On either side of the house are ditches that are still full of standing water. But all my attempts at googling the situation just yield "zomg you're going to die of mold and floor rot and you should basically burn the house or spend 20k on waterproofing". Anyone have a more reasoned and thoughtful answer? Both of you guys sound like you got somewhat similar setups as me. I don't have a swale between me and my easterly neighbor, and he's too close for any of the water to escape naturally. Since my yard is mostly clay and the power and gas lines there I'm seriously considering a trench drain and going along the driveway and out to the street with it. Also adding more clay around my house. It couldn't hurt but I don't know how much it will help because I don't know how much of the drainage would be that close to the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimsZilla Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Just laid down an entire pallet of mulch (hard to beat 5 for 10 at home depot right now). the side and back of my shed area, i was going to put grass but it would be kind of awkward for the lawnmower, so we just mulched the entire area. I'll tell you what, 60 bags of mulch goes incredibly quicker than I figured. That was the first project done. Next up is De-thatching the grass, then aerating it, fertilizing, over seeding the front. then fixing a lot of spots in the back that didn't grow in last year (super shady). Home depot had scotts EZ seed 50% off so I got a big bag of that and a couple sprinklers with timers so i wont have the excuse of no watering. Just need to wait for it to get a little warmer and i am in business! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSteelers56 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 So I am in the market for a general contractor. I have a back porch that is sitting on dirt that is held in place by railroad ties. It is ugly and seems fairly unsafe. I am looking to get the junk ripped out from under the porch and then the porch braced up so it is standing on poles. What kind of things do I need to know in hiring someone? I'm pretty homeowner illiterate and have been taken advantage of a few times because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 15 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said: So I am in the market for a general contractor. I have a back porch that is sitting on dirt that is held in place by railroad ties. It is ugly and seems fairly unsafe. I am looking to get the junk ripped out from under the porch and then the porch braced up so it is standing on poles. What kind of things do I need to know in hiring someone? I'm pretty homeowner illiterate and have been taken advantage of a few times because of it. competency. has he done this kind of work before? communication skills. do you feel comfortable with how he presents his company and what you need? will the two of you be able to handle any changes that might occur from the original gameplan? reliability. will he do what he proposes to do in the alloted time? fairness and ethics. will you be treated professionally? will he attempt to take advantage of you? will he stick to his word? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSteelers56 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 28 minutes ago, vike daddy said: competency. has he done this kind of work before? communication skills. do you feel comfortable with how he presents his company and what you need? will the two of you be able to handle any changes that might occur from the original gameplan? reliability. will he do what he proposes to do in the alloted time? fairness and ethics. will you be treated professionally? will he attempt to take advantage of you? will he stick to his word? What about contracts and insurance and things like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 11 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said: What about contracts and insurance and things like that? yeah, have him show you he's registered with the state and has the required liability insurance. as to contracts, you may need one you may not, that's up to you. if he has an extensive contract to protect himself, then you may want to add a clause as to what happens if he doesn't finish the work on time. will there be a financial penalty to him, assessed daily? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugboat Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 On 04/04/2019 at 6:51 AM, theJ said: Thanks. This is especially important as the house we are in the midst of purchasing also had water in the crawl. Appears to be the same problem, but it's being professionally inspected today. Do you think it's necessary to take extra steps to mitigate the water penetration (such a drain system or sump pump)? Or just write it off as a problem that happens every couple of years and forget about it? It's honestly crazy to me that people in other places build homes without a robust sump from the start. Half the houses here that are built like that, still end up with flooding damage at some point anyway...but it's pretty much full basement design across the board these days. But obviously you're talking a completely different sort of construction, with crawlspace foundations in the first place. If those flood, it ain't so bad right? As long as it's not like...eroding foundations or wrecking anything...seems kinda okay, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 4 hours ago, Tugboat said: It's honestly crazy to me that people in other places build homes without a robust sump from the start. Half the houses here that are built like that, still end up with flooding damage at some point anyway...but it's pretty much full basement design across the board these days. But obviously you're talking a completely different sort of construction, with crawlspace foundations in the first place. If those flood, it ain't so bad right? As long as it's not like...eroding foundations or wrecking anything...seems kinda okay, right? After scouring the internet for far longer than i would have liked, i've concluded that no one really knows. Obviously standing water for long stretches at a time isn't good. It will eventually do damage to foundations and warp floorboards, cause mold, etc. But if it gets wet for a few days does that hurt anything? Seems to be up to some debate, because most no-one goes in their crawl space every day to inspect. So who's to say how long that water was sitting there? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 3 hours ago, theJ said: After scouring the internet for far longer than i would have liked, i've concluded that no one really knows. excuse me, but i know. standing water in a crawlspace is a bad deal. it is not an immediate, critical problem but can create long term ones if not dealt with, problems like mold and rot, not to mention the creepy crawly type arthropodic type critters that will be drawn to that environment and then vacate it (up in to your house!) once it dries out and they look for wetter climes. get some fans and serious air movement down there 24/7 with escape [pathways to the outdoors and run those fans until it's dry and then keep running them. the out of sight, out of mind situations can create some of the worst problems down the line. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 2 hours ago, vike daddy said: excuse me, but i know. standing water in a crawlspace is a bad deal 5 hours ago, theJ said: Obviously standing water for long stretches at a time isn't good That one is the no brainer. What i was talking about was the seasonal infiltration that lasts for a few days. Is that a big deal? The wording i should have used was "there's no consensus". Lots of people think they know, but i've seen no real proof either way. I don't mean to offend, and i know you have some credentials. But i'm convinced by proof. Or at least very convincing theory. My current house has a sump pump. The house we're purchasing soon does not. I intend to install one for the peace of mind. But i'm not convinced it's necessary for the few weeks per year that the spring rains make it wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 13 minutes ago, theJ said: What i was talking about was the seasonal infiltration that lasts for a few days. Is that a big deal? wet is wet. any time a crawlspace gets wet it MUST be thoroughly dried out. mechanically, intentionally. not left to nature to do it over a period of a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWil23 Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Part of our selling agreement is that I need to replace my hot water heater (it's leaking), so I'm hiring a pro... AND Repairing the wrought iron bottom of the staircase on the concrete leading up to our house. The bottom/base is rusted and coming out of the concrete. Any suggestions with this? Thanks in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, MWil23 said: Repairing the wrought iron bottom of the staircase on the concrete leading up to our house. The bottom/base is rusted and coming out of the concrete. Any suggestions with this? Thanks in advance... i'm surprised this was called out as a major item in the inspection. How high up is it rusted out? If it's just as the very bottom, maybe you could form a concrete pedestal around the rusted part, then paint the rest of it to stop the rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWil23 Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Just now, theJ said: i'm surprised this was called out as a major item in the inspection. Yeah, unfortunately it was since it leads up to the front staircase. I ALMOST got away with it too using Liquid Nails to try a quick band aid repair, but I didn't. They asked for four things in the negotiation after inspection: 1. REPLACE the hot water heater. Since it's leaking and an $800 fix, we said that we would. 2. REPLACE the railing. We countered with "we'll repair it". Now I gotta fix it...ugh. 3. Get the furnace serviced as it hasn't been serviced in 8 years. My response: It works and I replace the HVAC filters every 3 months. Remember that $400 Home Warranty that we already gave you in negotiations? NO. 4. The Cement Slab that the HVAC sits on isn't completely level. Have an HVAC pro come out and level it. My response: NO. They agreed to our counter to their requests. Just now, theJ said: How high up is it rusted out? If it's just as the very bottom, maybe you could form a concrete pedestal around the rusted part, then paint the rest of it to stop the rust. It's JUST the bottom pedestal type part and MAYBE the bottom of the post on 1 of the 3 spots. Just now, theJ said: Would you recommend an even cut on the post/pedestal and then just a new pedestal, level it out, and then some quick crete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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