Siding around the house has 4'' gap between siding and the grade, no more openings provided. Can we say enough ventilation provided in crawl space?

How do you all deal with standing water in crawl space?
Do you swim (!) thru it to inspect the whole area?
Or do you all note in report " whole crawl space was not accessible, partially inspected"?

Your help greatly appreciated.

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Matt Kelekci
Houston TX

M-- (no name)

Crawling under there is tantamount to swimming with gators in a small pool of water.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

NO INSPECTION... tell them the crawlspace cannot be inspected due to being flooded. The crawl will have to be dried out, full access gained and the cause of the flooding abated prior to going under there. You cannot tell if there are any live/ exposed wires on the ground (or not).

I always run (one hell of) alot of water at every fixture before going under the home to identify if there are any leaks from the plumbing fixtures. How are you going to tell where the leak is coming from if it's already flooded?

Report the condition of the crawlspace, that it was unsafe to enter and not accessible due to hazardous conditions and make the above recommendations to be done prior to another inspection can be done (whether it's you or some one else).

Rich

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"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
Richard Rushing, HCRI
Duncanville, Tx.

Thats why you always have rubber boots and a respirator in your car. That is NASTY. No proper venting! "No" being the key word. Were there any vents. Was there any insulation between the joists, with a vapor barrier. Was there mold on everything. were there rats. The plywood underlayment will delaminate in this situation. You have to check it all or not go in at all citing health concerns. It is not considered normal to have a bacteria pool in your basement. A perimeter drain system installed to a sump pump or two, 10 inches of gravel,and concrete topping.

The standing water is enough by itself for you to state in your report........."crawlspace interior and all other systems and components inside crawlspace could not be inspected due to standing water noted on floor throughout crawlspace - crawlspace was not entered - water instrusion source needs to be corrected and water removed from crawlspace floor before crawlspace interior can be further evaluated).

Your personal safety is your first concern. There could be a loose electrical connection sitting in that water or something living in that swamp.

As others have said, do not go swimming. If a crawl space is muddy, I will not crawl through it. It is still wet and it should not be wet. I'm not paid enough to crawl through muck and mire.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

There were no vents besides the gap at the bottom. What makes you say that it is not properly vented?

Some joists were missing insulation and insulation that was present didn't look good.

The part of the crawl space that I inspected didn't have mold.

No, but I saw a creature moving, buyer said it was a craw fish.


Thanks again.

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Matt Kelekci
Houston TX

Didn't pay the taxes, running away from IRS. That is why I didn't want to disclose my name.

Anyway,

When I was registering on this bulletin board to expedite the registration process I just put M. I don't know if I can change it now.

My full name is Mehmet Kelekci, but I go by Matt.

How about the ventilation though? Is it enough?

Thanks for the post.

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Matt Kelekci
Houston TX

Depends. (I say that fairly often, don't I? )

What is behind the siding?

How far down does that go?

Is that 4" space totally and completely open?

*IF* that 4" space is totally and completely open, then .333 feet (4 inches) times the perimeter of the house/open vent area (in feet) gives the total vent area, then divide that into the sq ft of the house to get sq ft vent area per however many sq ft crawlspace area. Minimum crawlspace ventilation is 1 sf net free vent area for each 150 sf of crawlspace area.

Of course, though, you now get into: How is that vent opening screened? (It probably was not, otherwise I suspect you would have mentioned it.)

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Ormond Beach, Florida
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

There is nothing behing siding except 2x4 and plywood (which are not treated) Please see picture below.

It goes down to 4-5 inches above grade. Not consistent though. At some spots it is only 2 inches or less.

I can say "yes" except the spots I mentioned above.

I assume it is a 25x55 building. The perimeter 160 lf. 0.33x160= 53.28 sf of ventilation area.
The squarefootage of the building 1375, divided by 150=9.17 sf minimum required sf.

53.28>9.17

Thanks for the formula. I guess we are OK, but let me ask you this. Does it matter where the ventilation openings located. At the bottom or top?

It was not screened. Does it have to be screened or it is just a good practice to keep unwanted animals out? How would you screen this configuration?


PS.Thanks for taking the time out and training us. I have been quiet reader for last 12 months. You are a valuable asset to the bulletin board community. Because of your informative posts, I could pass the state exam last year.

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Matt Kelekci
Houston TX

Where are the joist hangers?

Joist hangers missing.

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Matt Kelekci
Houston TX

No specified height location that I know of. The location along the perimeter is specified, though.

From the IRC. (underlining is mine)

- R408.1 Ventilation.





"How would you screen this configuration?

Screening would be attached to frames set into those openings.

Also, do not forget flooding in areas which have SFHA (Special Flood Hazard Area) and have BFE (Base Flood Elevation - set by FEMA) and DFE (Design Flood Elevation - set higher than BFE by the community, DFE is used to provide an extra height of protection above the FEMA BFE).

From the IRC.
- R324.2.2 Enclosed area below design flood elevation.

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Ormond Beach, Florida
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Matt,

No one mentioned the big threat of being electrocuted either in a crawlspace with standing water.

Several years ago I was under a house and kept hearing the popping and sizzling noise only to find that a 220V wire was laying in some water that had ponded near the foundation wall. The soil under the house was extremely moist and I should have never went under there being that wet.

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Rick Hurst
Home Works Inspection Co.
5 out of 4 people have trouble with fractions

Rick,

I came out of a crawlspace about a year and a half ago absolutely covered in PAINT!!

Some SOB had spilled 5 gallons of paint on-top of the vapor barrier about 20 ft from the opening. You couldn't see it until you were already in the sheeiit!!

I was absolutely painted from head to toe.... Looked like one of the old three-stooges episodes where curley had paint poured over the top of him--- FUBAR.

Rich

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"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
Richard Rushing, HCRI
Duncanville, Tx.

ROTFLMAO

I can just picture that happening. I would be p'off.

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Rick Hurst
Home Works Inspection Co.
5 out of 4 people have trouble with fractions

I had someone spray bleach into one area and I did not notice it until I crawled through it. My red shirt that has my company name now looks like a tye dyed shirt, my coveralls did not get affected.

Do not go some where that may be hazardous to you.

Mike

Thank you all.

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