Back filling around piers

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SarahFair

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We are in a bit of a jam, to put it lightly.

We sold our house. We knew there was crawlspace issues, but thinking it wouldnt sell within 24 hrs we thought wed have a little time to get it straightened out.

Its a FHA loan so they have to have a general inspection as well as a structural.

We hired a company to come out and fix the plumbing, dry out the crawlspace, put lime down to help absorb access moisture and put a vapor barrier down.

They did all that and it was good.

Well now turns out a ripped air duct is causing condensation moisture which is causing water on the underside of the insulation and on top of the vapor barrier, which in turn starts pooling in small areas here and there.


We were not so smart and did not have the gutters properly draining either. Turns out with heavy rains the water will enter the crawlspace through some cracks in the skirting and through one vent in a garden area where access water will get trapped and pool.
....and of course the inspector shows up unannounced, a day early, and on the worst rain of the year ....and gets pictures of all that :rolleyes:


So I crawled under there today to make sure the water that got under there drained out. It did, except I noticed around a few of the piers water was "trapped" anywhere from .5" to a 1.5" deep. Im not sure if this is condensation from the ripped duct or if its ground water.

We have to get the crawlspace dried out.
My plans were to dry the duct, properly wrap it, dry the insulation barrier and the vapor barrier then back fill around the piers..
Does this sound logical and will it help with pooling??


Im so afraid of a structural engineer to come out here.
We had a bow in our bedroom floor show up one day out of the blue within a year or so ago. When we had the carpet replaced it did not look like any water damage was done from the top of the subfloor.
When you jump or bounce it has no give.
I asked the crawlspace guy what he thought it was and he said its the house sinking and one pier is pushing up on the area.
I dont know if I believe it, but it scares me if it could be a possibility.

The other couple things about the structural engineer coming out is the water pooling around the piers, a plumbing leak has caused one of the beams to begin rusting, and the skirting (we like in a modular home so it is decorative and not structural) has cracked in two places, which also lets rain water in.


We live in Georgia, on your infamous Georgia red clay.
So, what should I back fill around the piers to prevent water from pooling? I was thinking lime, play sand, and dirt?
Are there ways that I can tell if the house is "sinking" (using a level on the beams maybe?)
 
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