Dealing with a Waterfront Crawl Space

After spending most of the spring cooped up at home, you might be itching to get to your cottage or lake house. While a cottage is a great asset to have, they can also have big problems because of their closeness to bodies of water. Here are some tips for keeping your cottage safe, dry, and comfortable and spending less time cleaning this summer.

Know What You’re Dealing With

It’s very easy to ignore a crawl space because it’s usually pretty terrible down there. It’s small, usually with a dirt floor and probably doesn’t smell great either. You can’t use most crawl spaces for storage, let alone anything more, so you just...forget about it. We get calls every day from people who say, “I have no idea what’s down there but it’s nothing good.”

The bad news is that, at some point, someone needs to go into your crawl space to assess it. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be you! This is where our free inspection and quote come in handy. We’ll do the dirty work, give you a full picture of what’s going on down there, and let you decide how to proceed.

Focus on Moisture

Moisture is the crawl space’s enemy. Whether it’s standing water from a high water table or severe weather, or constant high humidity, it will help mold grow. A waterproofing system with a sump pump will take care of standing water, and a dehumidifier is vital to keeping ambient moisture (humidity) at bay.

Seal it Up!

If you have crawl space vents, they have to go. Your crawl space doesn’t have a chance at becoming a healthy, dry space if it has essentially open windows putting it at risk all year. After the vents are covered, having a vapor barrier installed will protect the crawl space from the elements, and your house from the crawl space. This means less dirt and dust not only in the crawl space, but in your home since HVAC systems are often located down there and will circulate whatever air they’re surrounded by.

Having a lake house or cottage is a great privilege, but it can become a huge burden if you don’t care for it properly. A few simple steps, starting with a call to us, can put you on track to spend your summer enjoying the water and not worrying about what’s happening underground.