A White Lake Homeowner’s Worst Nightmare: Water in the Crawl Space

This article covers some of the concerns a White Lake Homeowner is facing because of a water drainage problem in the neighborhood. The Oakland County Road Commission is responsible for maintaining the storm drains.

Structural Damage

Standing water in residential crawl spaces and basement can cause immediate and long-term problems for homeowners. Wet, muddy crawl spaces make it difficult for accessing and maintaining plumbing and electrical systems. High humidity allows mold and mildew to grow, causing musty odors and mold in homes. Over time it can cause deterioration of floor joists, beams, flooring and electrical systems. The excess moisture causes the footer and foundation to weaken causing wall settlement and cracking. Eventually, homeowners will experience cracked walls, warped subfloors and even doors and cabinets being difficult to close.

Increased Heating and Cooling Bills

As the excess moisture penetrates the subflooring and moves to the drier areas in the home the humidity causes an increased amount of energy used for heating and air-conditioning, resulting in higher bills. The repairs can be very expensive; however, necessary to maintain a home’s value.

Mold Causes Health Problems and it Stinks!

Molds are fungi that grow and thrive in warm, damp and humid conditions. Air born mold spores cause health problems including allergies, asthma and fungal infections. It can also irritate your eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs.

Moisture, dirt, dust mites and mold spores form under your home are sucked up through the floors and spread throughout your house. This is the most common cause of musty odors, allergies and other health problems. When you have an excessive amount of humidity under your home, it naturally gravitates up into the living area, causing upper respiratory problems and triggering asthma attacks.

Termites, Spiders, Snakes and other Vermin

Excess moisture under a home is a breeding ground for termites which love to feast on rotted wood caused by wet crawl spaces. This is very damaging to your home. Snakes, spiders, centipedes, cockroaches, rats, dust mites, termites and many other forms of vermin thrive from humidity caused by wet crawl spaces.

Excess humidity provides a breeding ground for an entire food chain of organisms, from the smaller, microscopic organisms living under your home to the larger ones that invade your living space. All these organisms reduce the indoor air quality in your home and cause health problems.

Cause of Water Problems under your Home

The source of the problem is inadequate drainage around the foundation wall including roof water that is not carried away by gutters and downspouts. When rain water runs off the roof that doesn’t have gutters, it goes straight down and leaks into the basement or crawl space.

Excessive watering of flower beds near the home can also cause a problem as it seeps into the ground near the foundation instead of draining away.

Subsurface or ground water that accumulates near the foundation will eventually cause pressure to build up, forcing water through joints and cracks in basement walls or footings. Water tends to go to the lowest possible point; your crawl space or basement!

Nearby springs may have been filled in or covered up by the neighborhood developers when your home was built. These springs should have been properly drained away from the subdivision. If the job was not done properly then excess water eventually seeps into the surrounding fill, becoming a pool of groundwater that eventually forces it way into basements and crawl spaces.

Improperly installed drains around the footer or foundation can become clogged or collapsed causing groundwater to build up and seep into the basement or crawl space. Even a good perimeter drain can end up buried during the final backfill stages of construction leaving excess water no place to go but into the basement or crawlspace.

The Solution

It all comes down to proper drainage of excess ground water. There are many basement and crawl space waterproofing companies who can come to your home to do an inspection and give you an estimate. This can be very expensive; however, necessary to preserve the value of your home and the quality of the air that you breathe.

An Extreme Case in White Lake Township

In the case of a homeowner in White Lake Township, the Oakland County Road Commission is responsible for part of the problem. The example I’m referring to is a home with a ditch and catch basin in the front yard and storm drains that run under the driveways. This home sits at the lowest point on the street and originally was on a dirt road. When the road was paved, they failed to put in a proper drain field for the excess water. There is a big hole under the ditch and a grate in the middle where the water should go when there is a lot of rain, but it just fills up; it does not drain away. When the water has no place to go, it ends up in the front yard and the crawl space floods. Even on a dry day, the water level remains high in the ditch and the front yard is soft and spongy.

Since there is no sewer system in the area, the Oakland County Road Commission is supposed to come out and pump the water from the hole and take it to a nearby lake to dispose of it. When they refuse to provide this service the groundwater accumulates and puts pressure on the foundation of the home. Even if the homeowner has a proper drain system and sump pump installed in the crawl space, the water will just continue to seep back into the crawl space and eventually burn up the sump pump that runs constantly and increases energy bills.

The homeowner has made numerous calls to the Oakland County Road Commission who claims to be busy, 24/7 taking care of roads that are under water! Yeah, right! They say they’re under staffed and over worked or there is inadequate funding. If they spent as much time working to solve the problem as they do complaining and making up excuses maybe there wouldn’t be a problem.

The next step taken was to call the Oakland County Commissioner assigned to the White Lake area, Jim Runestad. Jim has been kind enough to speak to the homeowner and listen to her concerns. He has also made several calls to the Oakland County Road Commission. So far, the only results he has gotten is the promise to put this particular request at “the top of the stack.”

So where does someone turn to for help in this situation?