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

What usually causes wet crawlspace in Manchester

The most common cause we find in Manchester is a silted or outlet-less footing drain. Corrugated pipe laid in native soil without fabric silts shut in a few decades, and the daylight outlet is usually buried or crushed. On Colchester Drive waterfront with clay seams and seeps on Beach Drive underneath, that's where we look first.

We also check groundwater from uphill, because in Manchester 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 rural parcels along Colby Road, but we've found it near Manchester State Park.

First steps on a Manchester property

Downspout lines on the waterfront homes frequently discharge straight into the bank, which is an erosion problem we fix with proper outlets.

Before we arrive in Manchester, three things you can do: walk the house in a hard rain and watch every downspout. Find the footing drain outlet and see whether it's flowing. Do the five-minute meter test to rule the water line in or out. None of it requires tools, and all of it helps us outlet faster on rural parcels along Colby Road.

How we fix it

Fixing wet crawlspace here usually ends with footing drain repair near Southworth: outlet with sump basins where needed, backfill with rock on Beach Drive lots sloping to the water, excavate the foundation. One crew, one visit, till bluff above Rich Passage put back the way it was.

We've handled wet crawlspace near Manchester State Park where the cause was 1940s galvanized on beach homes, and near Beach Drive where fill and beach deposits on Colchester Drive was hiding a drain failure. Down Mile Hill Drive from Port Orchard; we schedule Manchester so you aren't waiting a whole day.