Stains at Crawlspace Foundation

[Mike Lamb]

I see this type of cascading moisture at crawlspace foundations often. It looks like water has run over the foundation but I am very skeptical as to when or how this actually occurs. It rarely to never looks like something that has occurred recently. Is this something that might have happened during construction? Thoughts on this?

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[Bryan]

Any chance you have an establishing shot of the outside showing the grade?

[Mike Lamb]

Nothing helpful. I see similar stains often in older pre-1970 crawlspaces. I usually find dry wood sill plates with no visual moisture staining to speak of on the wood framing. Its more of a general question.

[kurt]

I see it all the time too. It could be from any number of things during construction. I've never seen it be a problem either.

[mjr6550]

I see this type of cascading moisture at crawlspace foundations often. It looks like water has run over the foundation but I am very skeptical as to when or how this actually occurs. It rarely to never looks like something that has occurred recently. Is this something that might have happened during construction? Thoughts on this?

Click to Enlarge

45.36 KB

I see similar stains all the time in my area. However, the stains are typically from red clay. Seldom is the grade above the foundation, so I assume it is probably from dirt that blows around on ends up on top of the foundation wall from shoes, wood sitting on the ground, etc.

[John Kogel]

Yep, it was raining on the construction site.

I have a similar reaction to crawlspace sawdust, is it insects or manmade?

[kurt]

Yes.

[hausdok]

Release oil residue. It gets washed off on the outside but it remains inside.

[John Kogel]

Release oil residue. It gets washed off on the outside but it remains inside.

By release oil you mean oil on the concrete forms, right?

We used to scrape them and put diesel on them. I was scraping forms with a hoe the day whats-his-name walked on the moon.

[Jim Katen]

Yep, it was raining on the construction site.

I have a similar reaction to crawlspace sawdust, is it insects or manmade?

It's easy to tell if you look at it carefully. That's a subject that's been beaten into most of the Oregon inspectors I know. Isn't it covered in CA?

[John Kogel]

Yep, it was raining on the construction site.

I have a similar reaction to crawlspace sawdust, is it insects or manmade?

It's easy to tell if you look at it carefully. That's a subject that's been beaten into most of the Oregon inspectors I know. Isn't it covered in CA?

No, there might be a course one could take.

All I'm saying is when I see sawdust in the crawlspace or a wall cavity, I check it out closely.