JulieR

The house is on flat land and all around the 2.5 acres the land slopes down and away from the property. The gutters were moved out of the perimeter drain system and now flow onto the ground about 3 feet from the house. The soil is about 2 ft below the top of the foundation. There are many vents in the crawlspace. The cracks are pencil line thin (maybe a bit bigger) and run up and down. There is no eveidence of water on the walls. The fellow that came to look at the perimeter drain wasn't terribly concerned about them. The perimeter drains I am refering to is the one that goes around the base of the foundation and is made out of.... big O. They only unplugged the one corner when the fixed it and then moved the gutters. Apparently because fir needles where plugging them. The weather here is VERY wet in the winter and VERY hot in the summer. The soils are ??? I do know there are very acidic but thats all. lol. sorry. We have talked to several inspectors and everyone seems to have a different thoery. We're very confused. I hope this answers your questions. Julie

Sorry, we're on the west coast of Vancouver island, BC. Port Alberni. We get lots of rain and the water table in the area is quite high. Julie

Hi there. We are purchasing a home and have just had the home inspection done. The crawl space has vapor barrier over the cement with obvious moisture under it. The owners had a problem with the perimeter drain but say it is fixed. Our inspector said to get rid of the vapor barrier but the home owners inspector told them to put it there. There was also substantial rot (3ft width) in two of the corners in the crawl space, rim joists, plates etc. It was completely dry though. We're looking for some info as I don't want any moisture in my crawlspace. Does anyone know what should be done? The house is 28 years old and the cement foundation does have an existing thin layer of vapor barrier under the top layer of cement. There are also two small cracks evident in the crawspace, and the perimeter drain is very suspicous. I'm thinking that if we fix the cracks, re do the perimeter drain and put a dehumidifier down there the problem will be fixed?? HELP? Thank you.