Water In Crawl Space After Heavy Rain & Standing Flood Water under House

Sometimes when it rains, water can get into your house. Often you might find it where there’s a crack in the window, or there’s a hole in the wall.

Other times, however, rain can get into where you can’t see it. That can include getting into the crawl space underneath your house.

Unfortunately, if you don’t take care of any water that gets stuck in your crawl space, it can mean serious damage to the structural integrity of your home.

What Causes Water Under Your Crawl Space After Heavy Rain

There are several reasons as to why water is in your crawl space after a period of heavy rain.

What’s most important to remember though is that water in your crawl space is likely a sign that something else in your overall home design is not working properly.

These problems can include the following:

• It’s possible that the grading around your house is sitting at an angle where rain water is draining toward your home rather than away from it. Check around your house to make sure that the grading is leading away from the basement.
• Another possible source of the water could be your gutters. Sometimes the water could be due to an overflow of rain that is leaking from the gutters into the ground. Another reason could be that the openings of the gutters have not been directed properly, causing the rainwater to puddle around the perimeter of your house.
• Yet another cause could be cracks in the foundation or windows in the basement. If you do notice any cracks around your house then they will also likely leak rain water into your basement in addition to your crawl space. Not only are cracks unsightly, but they can also lead to greater damage to the house structure. Be sure to fix them right away.
• Sometimes, however, it may not be something wrong with you house but simply the rain being too much to handle. During an extremely heavy rainstorm the moisture seeps into the ground and can eventually get into your basement or crawl space if it doesn’t dry up.

Is It Normal That There Is Water In The Crawl Space After Heavy Rain?

While it’s natural to be alarmed whenever you see any water in your crawl space, it’s actually not abnormal for there to be a bit of water to get in there after a bad rainstorm.

What’s important though is that the amount of water should be small enough to evaporate on its own.

If you see some water in your crawl space after a rain storm, be sure to check it continuously to make sure that it is going away.

If you continue to see water in your crawl space long after the last rain storm, you may want to call a professional to help you take care of it.

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Water in your Crawl Space?

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Dangers of a Flooded Crawl Space

When you do see water pooling in your crawl space after rain or flood, you should be aware of the dangers it can cause.

There are a large number of problems associated with a flooded crawl space including:

Bad smells and rotten odors are commonly found in houses with a flooded crawl space.

The pool of water after rain underneath your house is a place perfect for bacteria and germs to grow. Using candles or air fresheners may help the smell but you will need to clean up the water to get rid of it completely.

While the bacteria can cause bad smells, it can also cause mold to grow.

Mold that grows in the very bottom of your house can spread into the basement and other areas causing damage to its structural integrity.

Not only will the mold cause structural damage, but the moisture from the water itself is also a massive danger to your home.

Water damage will cause the wood in your crawl space to rot and break down.

Over time this damage may become irreparable and you will need to make expensive repairs to replace the wood.

One other thing that a flooded crawl space might cause is a higher energy bill.

As water accumulates under your floors after rain or flood it makes it harder for your heating/AC to effectively push air through your houses system.

What To Do About Standing Water In Crawl Space After Heavy Rain?

Once you notice that there is a good amount of water stuck under your crawl space, there are a couple ways you can get rid of it depending on how much water is in there.

First, if it is a manageable amount of water, it is probably best to use a wet-vacuum.

If there is a large amount of water after a large flood or heavy storm then it would be best to buy or rent a pump to get it out.

Whichever piece of equipment you plan on using, follow the steps below in order to get the water out of your crawl space:

• The first thing you should do, is remove any items that may be in the crawl space so as to minimize damage to them and also to make sure you have plenty of room to work in.
• If you are using a water pump, you may need to dig out a small space in order to set it properly so that it can suck out all the water.
• If you are using an electrical pump, you will also need to make sure that the cord is long enough to plug into an electrical outlet. You can buy an extension cord if the one the pump comes with is not long enough. You will also need to make sure of this if using a wet-vacuum
• Once the pump is set in the right place, simply turn it on and make sure that the flood water is being carried to a place where it won’t flow back into your crawl space.
• When using a wet-vacuum, you will be able to better maneuver it to different areas. However, it may still be difficult depending on the size of the vacuum, your own size, and the size of your crawl space. Also make sure you’re wearing appropriate clothes and protection so as to minimize dirt and bacteria getting on you.
• Once you’re done using the wet-vacuum, dispose of the rain water in an appropriate place.
• Before putting any equipment away, double check around the crawl space to make sure you removed as much water as possible.
• Fill in any holes or ditches you dug so that no water can get in there in the future and also check around the house and seal off any other areas water may be getting in.

While getting water out of your crawl space is certainly possible on your own, it can be a difficult and time consuming job if you’re not sure what you’re doing.

How To Dry Out Water Under Crawl Space From Rain

Once you’ve gotten all the rain water out from under the crawl space itself, there’s still the matter of making sure it’s all the way dry.

Thankfully, getting a crawl space dry is easier than getting a basement or some other room indoors dry.

This is due to the fact that air from outdoors is able to circulate through it.

In general it can take half a day or less to get your crawl space completely dry, more in humid weather or in winter.

Much like getting any wet part of your house dry, the first thing you’re going to want to get is an electric fan.

Either a normal house fan will work for drying out the rain water from your crawlspace, or an industrial grade fan meant for drying out large areas.

The other thing you will want to get is a de-humidifier.

This will help suck up some of the moisture in the air to ensure that your crawl space is as dry as possible.

Preventing Crawl Space Flooding When It Rains

In order to make sure no more water gets into your crawl space, there are several things you can do, such as:

• Periodically cleaning out your gutters to prevent them from overflowing and also making adjustments to the drains to keep water flowing away from your home when it rains.
• Fixing the grading so that the rain water is going away from your house rather than towards it.
• Installing a sump pump to get rid of water in the crawl space automatically when it rains.
• Of course, make sure any cracks in the foundation or basement windows are fixed.

When To Call A Professional

Finding water in your crawl space can certainly be disturbing for any homeowner. It’s possible that you may already have the tools and know how to get everything fixed on your own.

But, often times the flooding is too much or the process is too complicated to do properly depending on the design of your crawlspace.

A water damage restoration professional will have the necessary skill and industrial-grade equipment to remove all the water from your crawl space, dry it out and help prevent your crawl space from getting flooded again.

We have Water Damage Restoration Technicians that can help Remove the Water from your Crawl Space & Dry it out.

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