Everything you feared about getting rid of water in your crawl space is true.
It's dirty, costly, frustrating.
Recently, I had the pleasure of spending $3,600 on a local company that specializes in permanently ridding crawlspaces of water. While it's not rocket science and over time I could have done the job myself, it's that "time thing" that's the problem. A job that took this company one day to do would take me weeks.
You first need to take care of the exterior causes for water in the crawl space...
- Got any drainpipes shooting right into the foundation?
- Any rivulets running toward the house?
- Are your gutters functioning?
- Etc.
But let's assume you've already taken care of those issues. In my case, the problem was that the entire hillside above my house was like a giant sponge. It leaked water toward my house--and the houses of everyone on the street--365 days a year, though very slowly. Nothing you can do about that.
So, what you do is set up a border within your crawlspace that is the same dimension as your foundation. Then you dig a trench. Then you schlep hundreds of pounds of drain rock through your house--right past the fine Limoges china in your dining room--and down into the access door. Then you drag hundreds of feet of perforated pipe through the house, and down again.
Line that trench with the pipe, cover with gravel. Install a sump pump at the low end of your perimeter. Got a GFCI in your crawlspace? Probably not. Call an electrician to install one.
Arrange sump pump's discharge to go to the house exterior...well away from the house.
Then you re-cover the entire crawl space with 6 mil. vapor barrier. Done.
And of course, when I say "you," I mean "the company you hired to do this."
Image Lee Wallender; Licensed to About.com
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