Damp crawl spaces and soot

BY DENNIS CREECH AND ABRAHAM KRUGER

Q: With the rain we’ve been receiving, I’ve had standing water in the crawl space under my home. What should I do? 

A: A damp crawl space can quickly lead to mold problems and may damage the framing and mechanical equipment there.

Solving drainage problems is the first step. On many homes, gutters collect rain from the roof and funnel it through downspouts against the foundation. Make sure downspouts direct rain away from the foundation. You may need to attach a plastic pipe to the end of downspouts to divert rainwater.

Splash from the roof and walls can also cause a damp crawl space. Slope the ground next to the foundation so that it drains water away from the home.

If surface water drains toward your home, then you may need to install a drainage system to divert the water. One common system, called a swale, is a drainage ditch roughly 2 feet wide and 3 feet deep, filled with gravel and covered with a few inches of soil. The swale should intercept surface water as it flows toward your home. The bottom of the swale should be sloped to channel water away from the foundation. Another system is a French drain. French drains can be made with perforated pipe surrounded by sand or gravel and geotextile or landscaping cloth. Landscaping textiles are used to prevent migration of the drainage material as well as preventing dirt and roots from entering and clogging the drainage pipe.

Once the drainage problems are corrected and the crawl space is dry, cover the bare earth in the crawl space with plastic to keep groundwater from evaporating and creating a damp environment under your home.

Q: We noticed a fine, black soot in our home, especially on the television and stereo. The electronic appliances are working fine. Our home does not have a fireplace, but does have a gas furnace, water heater and stove. Could one of these appliances be malfunctioning?

A: While it is possible that a gas appliance is the cause, a likely culprit could be candles. Some candles produce a fine soot that can quickly disperse throughout the house. This soot can coat furnishings in your home, and be especially harmful to people with respiratory aliments.

Choosing a soot-free candle is difficult, as there is no standard for comparison. You can test a candle by burning it for 15 minutes in a closed bathroom with a plastic plate positioned a few feet from the candle. The electrostatic charge on the plate should attract soot particles, much like the electrostatic charge of the plastic casing for your television or stereo.

—Dennis Creech is the executive director and Abraham Kruger is a residential energy expert at Southface—Responsible Solutions for Environmental Living, www.southface.org.