Why Is My Crawlspace Wet Every Winter? (Keyport, WA)

What usually causes wet crawlspace in Keyport

The most common cause we find in Keyport is grading that slopes toward the house. Decades of landscaping and settled backfill often reverse the slope in the first few feet around the foundation. On short runs on the peninsula grid with till on the Keyport Road approaches underneath, that's where we look first.

We also check groundwater from uphill, because in Keyport it explains a real share of wet crawlspace calls. On sloped lots in Port Orchard, Manchester, Enetai, Tracyton and Bainbridge, water perched on the hardpan moves downhill toward the house all winter.

And a leaking water service line: if the crawlspace is wet with no rain, or wet in August, or wet on the side facing the meter, do the meter test. Less common on shoreline lots at Virginia Point, but we've found it near the marina.

First steps on a Keyport property

Footing drains on the oldest homes are often nonexistent or long since crushed.

Before we arrive in Keyport, three things you can do: walk the house in a hard rain and watch every downspout. Do the five-minute meter test to rule the water line in or out. Find the footing drain outlet and see whether it's flowing. None of it requires tools, and all of it helps us excavate the foundation faster on shoreline lots at Virginia Point.

How we fix it

Fixing wet crawlspace here usually ends with footing drain repair near Liberty Bay: excavate the foundation with sump basins where needed, outlet on small, tightly packed village lots, restore. One crew, one visit, a clay layer under the village shelf put back the way it was.

We've handled wet crawlspace near the marina where the cause was short runs failing at foundation entries, and near the torpedo station where damp shoreline ground on Liberty Bay was hiding a drain failure. Ten minutes up Brownsville Highway; we schedule Keyport so you aren't waiting a whole day.