Potential Standing Water Issue or Inspector Overreaction?

Question

Inspector says potential standing water issue during heavy rains.  Top pic shows his concerns and are the “before” photos.  Turnkey company “made the repairs” in the bottom two photos by installing gravel so that water supposedly easily travels away from the house (encouraged by the slight slope from back to front of the home).

Should I be concerned?  I’m days away from my rate lock expiring, loan is clear to close, turnkey provider saying it’s resolved, and inspector who was supposed to go back out to check on it for me is unreachable.

Thoughts?

David Tyrawa · Answer

This is just my opinion but I wouldn't worry much about it. It won't be hard to grade the land if needed. I believe ( again my opinion) the inspectors always need something to complain about to justify there job. To me it seems minimal. If the foundation isn't cracked or water signs in basement it's a non issue

Pat L. · Answer

We live with it here. With rain, rain & more rain, then the proverbial spring freeze & thaw. On most properties we run downspout drains 50-100 ft away from the basement if we can. I had to do it on a new build we did & now the previously constantly running sump pump rarely runs. On an '87 era home we had to also run drains (from the downspouts) 50 ft away from the basement as the basement floor was constantly wet from hydrostatic pressure from under the slab. We recently had the same issue with a 70's home where the poured basement walls began to seep at a couple of the floor/wall joints. This home has 2 sump pumps & the downspout drains are 30 ft away from the basement but water is tenacious.

My partners recently built a 800 sq ft addition on a crawl space & the hydrostatic pressure from torrential rain & runoff literally filled the gravel based crawl space with 4inches off standing water. They had a sump pump installed but moisture is still a major problem & yet the grading appears adequate. You can view their crawlspace through an access they left from the old basement & its bad.

Jeff Haroldson · Answer

Hi Mark.  I've been a licensed Realtor in "rainy" Oregon since 2004.  41 inches annual rainfall here.  It looks like you have crawlspace from the photos.  Inspectors here often call out a reverse grade sloping back towards the home as possibly causing water to drain towards the home and thus into the crawl space or basement.  It is often is an inexpensive fix and not a big deal based upon my experience.  Fixes I have seen have been:  1) Extend gutter downspouts  further away from the home. 2).  Add dirt next to foundation increasing slope away from the home. Aka change the grade   3) add French drain to divert water away from the home usually into a dry well. 4).  If Crawlspace make sure low point drain is working properly.   They are installed here with all new construction and dates back at least to the early 1980s.

Important:  If their are foundation cracks then you definitely want a foundation expert to look at it.   In my experience horizontal cracks are most often called out as being a bigger concern structurally than vertical cracks.

It's always hard from a distance to give advice as I may not know all of the facts.  When in doubt I'd advise to extend a closing and pay a professional in their respective field to make sure you are protected.

Jack Seiden · Answer

I had on a similar issue noted on one of my properties as a seller as there has been some moisture in a crawl in space and we gave a credit. Long story short they guy spent thousands of dollars on a french drain system when just regrading could have helped. 9/10 times regrading would solve this.

Jeff Haroldson · Answer

Hi Mark.  I've been a licensed Realtor in "rainy" Oregon since 2004.  41 inches annual rainfall here.  It looks like you have crawlspace from the photos.  Inspectors here often call out a reverse grade sloping back towards the home as possibly causing water to drain towards the home and thus into the crawl space or basement.  It is often is an inexpensive fix and not a big deal based upon my experience.  Fixes I have seen have been:  1) Extend gutter downspouts  further away from the home. 2).  Add dirt next to foundation increasing slope away from the home. Aka change the grade   3) add French drain to divert water away from the home usually into a dry well. 4).  If Crawlspace make sure low point drain is working properly.   They are installed here with all new construction and dates back at least to the early 1980s.

Important:  If their are foundation cracks then you definitely want a foundation expert to look at it.   In my experience horizontal cracks are most often called out as being a bigger concern structurally than vertical cracks.

It's always hard from a distance to give advice as I may not know all of the facts.  When in doubt I'd advise to extend a closing and pay a professional in their respective field to make sure you are protected.

Russell Brazil · Answer

Literally nearly every single house has this issue. Ive never seen an inspection report without this.

Potential Standing Water Issue or Inspector Overreaction?

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