What’s in Your Crawlspace?

What’s in Your Crawlspace?

Chances are, if there were ever a major issue with your toilet, your shower, or your sink, you’d know it before too long. If a toilet gets clogged and won’t flush, it’s not as if you’re going to fail to realize it—unless it’s in a bathroom that just never gets used. If your faucet develops a leak, you’ll either see or hear it, and you may also notice its impact on your water bill. Similarly, any moisture or mold problems that develop within your home, you’re probably going to take notice of, because the impact will be plainly visible.

But what about the areas of your home where you just don’t go very often? The crawlspace is a great example. Not all homes have crawlspaces, of course, but many do, and most crawlspace areas house all manner of pipes, and potentially whole-house water filters, as well. This can be one of the most significant areas of your home, from a plumbing standpoint, yet it’s also somewhere you’re not going to be spending much time—so if a problem arises, you may not know it immediately, or until the damage has become fairly extreme.

Inspecting Your Crawlspace

For this reason, we would recommend that you make it a habit to head down to your crawlspace every so often—even if it’s just on a weekly or bi-weekly basis—to make sure everything is running smoothly. Just add this brief step to your household maintenance checklist, along with replacing air filters, inspecting your gutters, and so forth.

What should you be looking for in your crawlspace? A few obvious problems can be identified just on sight:

• Of course, the main thing to look for is any sign of leakage—obviously leaking pipes, or puddled water on the ground beneath a pipe. Signs of erosion on the ground might also point to water issues.
• Be on the lookout for rusting pipes, as this will damage and ultimately corrode them. You’ll need to have rusted pipes replaced before they become leaky!
• You should also keep eyes peeled for signs of mold. Not only is this something you’ll want to have treated as soon as possible, but it could also suggest a moisture problem or leak somewhere in the crawlspace.

The crawlspace is not necessarily a fun place to hang out, yet it an important place to visit and to inspect as you try to keep tabs on your plumbing systems. Should you spy a problem, don’t hesitate to call our team of plumbing professionals.