On this page you’ll find everything you need to know about diverting water seepage and waterproofing your crawl space or basement.
Is your Richmond crawl space or basement wet? For more than 30 years Bay Area Moisture Control has been protecting Richmond homes with our moisture control solutions.
Water can come into the basement through walls, floors, and the joints between them. This has been a problem for Richmond homeowners for more than 100 years, especially since the soils vary from region to region and basements are imperfect concrete structures. Contractors and engineers have developed several different ways to keep the basement dry. Some methods are more effective than others.
An interior perimeter drainage system is among the best methods to install for a Basement Water Diversion project. Basement Systems has worked hard to design a product that addresses the challenges that come with interior subfloor drainage. The main issue is existing sub-floor clogged drains. Many Richmond homeowners go years without a problem and then develop one due to drain clogs. Bay Area Moisture Control installs a state-of-the-art French drain (aka drain tile) system called WaterGuard that is specially engineered to sit on the basement footing, keeping it up out of the dirt and mud (the Mud Zone) and making it highly resistant to clogging.
Click here to learn more about Richmond interior water diversion solutions.
All dirt and vented crawl spaces can benefit greatly from encapsulation with the CleanSpace System, but if there is an existing water problem it needs to be dealt with before a homeowner can seal their crawl space. The core of this system is a sump pump, but only one that is designed specially for use with crawl spaces and the CleanSpace system.
There are plenty of horror stories of failing sump pumps, but choosing the right sump equipment can keep the space beneath your Richmond home free of water. The wrong sump pump, however, could make it you telling the story of how your sump failed when you needed it.
Click here to find the right sump pump for Richmond.
The problem with a dirt or vented concrete crawlspace is that as warm air rises in your Richmond home, it brings up with it the air that was previously in your crawl space, including moisture and mold spores, as well as anything else that may be airborne down there. This is especially true in Richmond.
As this air rises in your home, replacement air enters from the lowest part, your crawlspace. This replacement air is made up with unconditioned outside air that enters through vents and other leaks, and air that is actually sucked from the crawlspace floor, either dirt or concrete, which is typically filled with lots of moisture. This natural upward air movement is called the “stack effect” — this is how chimneys work. Consequently, whatever is in the air at the lowest point eventually flows up into the living sections. Up to 60% of the air we breathe on the first floor of our home comes from the crawl space.
Stack Effect A concrete or dirt crawl space with a crawl space vent is a never-ending source of moisture. Even if the dirt’s surface seems dry, digging down a few inches reveals moist earth.
Sealing the crawl space from the earth and outside air is the solution to moisture and dampness in the home. Some contractors and homeowners will simply put down a thin, non-UV-resistant plastic liner, like a 6-mil plastic liner. This really has no effect as there’s still too much opportunity for air to enter from (air is very small and can come through crawl space doors or hatches, crawl space vents, pipe penetrations, porous concrete walls, the hollow cores of blocks, and various other gaps and holes. The CleanSpace crawl space encapsulation system includes solutions to all these challenges.
Click here to learn more about Richmond Crawl Space Encapsulation Systems.
