Crawlspace Remediation of Category 2 Water

Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Patrick-Moffett

Health and Safety: Crawlspace remediation involving a water damage situation is at best a difficult process to cleanup and dry. Adding sewage and mold growth into the mix compounds the cleanup process exponentially. The restorer is further challenged with confined space safety issues including the lack of available natural light and communicating with other workers; working on their bellies and heat stress; exposure to all sorts of hazards from electrical shock and puncture wounds; breathing in dusty and unsanitary air to working in oxygen deficient workspaces.

Staying Focused on Remediating and Drying Category 2 Damaged Crawlspaces

Category of Water: Standing water in a crawlspace that came from a fresh water source is no longer Category 1 water. It is either Category 2 or Category 3.

Terminology: Try to avoid using the word “soil” in insurance company reports because soil is not covered in residential building insurance policies. Consider using the term “building foundation” because building foundation is a term that describes: “the structural system that supports and anchors the structure and transmits the structure’s load back to the foundation.” By mitigating the foundation’s water damage problem you are continuing to remediate the crawlspace and its supporting parts.

Extraction Practices for Standing Water: Extraction is the removal of standing water within the flooded crawlspace. Extracting Category 2 water from a flooded foundation that has open land attached to it requires permission to pump the water directly onto open land. However, removing Category 2 water from a flooded foundation that has adjoining buildings next to it generally requires the restorer to contain and dispose water by other means. Category 3 water is grossly unsanitary and it may contain pathogens and sewage. Category 3 water must be contained and legally disposed.

Extraction Practices for Absorbed Water: Having standing water in the foundation means the building’s supporting ground can no longer hold any more water. Sometimes this phenomenon is a result of high water table from an ocean, lake or river; in other situations it is due to saturated soil outside the building or water that absorbed in the foundation ground from a pipe break. The restorer is to consider all these issues before attempting to remove absorbed water. When water is from a pipe break inside the foundation - there is no pressure exerting on the foundation from outside sources. In this situation the saturated foundation can usually have its water removed by placing one or more sump pumps at a lower level than foundation footings. For just drying the ground’s top inch or two - air movers, low-grain dehumidifiers, desiccant dehumidifiers and heat drying equipment are the tools of the trade.

Wood Framing Drying: Removing wet insulation is one method to control the amount of building saturation followed by installing appropriate dehumidification equipment. Surface and penetrating moisture and humidity data loggers along with daily moisture monitoring are required to ensure the foundation framing is dry. When the foundation ground below a dry surface is allowed to remain wet, wood framing can experience an increase in moisture content to rewetting dry framing.