Water in the crawlspace!

[A930Rocket]

I got a frantic phone call from our daughter saying that after they had a refrigerator installed three weeks ago and now there is a ton of water in the crawlspace.

I’m still not clear if the water was leaking from above into the crawlspace or if a waterline is leaking in the crawlspace.

If it’s leaking in the crawlspace, how did that happen if the installers did not go under there? Did they work something loose?

With me out of town, I can only do so much. Looking at the picture they sent me, it looks like a lot of water on the plastic vapor barrier and I see water hanging from some PVC pipe. It really must’ve been spraying under there

That said, I’ve told them to pull the plastic out towards the crawlspace door, hopefully bringing as much water with it as possible.

Step two, is make sure all the vents are open and Ms Rocket dropped off a blower to get fresh air in the crawlspace. From the picture, I told her to raise up the blower a little bit.

Any other advice?

Edit: their house was built 30 or 40 years ago, so it has a 2 foot high crawlspace if that much. Add ductwork and plumbing pipes and it’s a ***** to get in there. Which means I’m not going in there.

[A930Rocket]

I had to make this post separate. This is what you get when the boyfriend is mechanically challenged.😂

[cabmandone]

Are you sure there wasn’t a saddle valve installed for an ice maker? Possibly a previously installed saddle valve and the installers pulled on the line going to an ice maker and created a leak at the saddle valve.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Are you sure there wasn’t a saddle valve installed for an ice maker? Possibly a previously installed saddle valve and the installers pulled on the line going to an ice maker and created a leak at the saddle valve.

That’s my thinking but until somebody goes under there I don’t know.

For all I know, it’s still leaking.🙄

[cabmandone]

Flex tape to the rescue! Send in the mechanically challenged boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Flex tape to the rescue! Send in the mechanically challenged boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

I don’t think he can get his fat ass in there. 🙄

[OldSpool87]

Condensation on a cold water line?

[herr_oberst]

You need to get someone in there to assess the situation, figure out the leak and get all the wet insulation out before water capillaries into dry insulation or other permeable materials, and mop as much water from the vis-queen as possible. That's a mess and it won't just go away. And that blower is woefully inadequate, even if the fan is blowing into the mess, not out.

It's not going to be done remotely. Is there a neighbor around who knows his or her siht?

[A930Rocket]

They just moved in a month ago, so I don’t know of any neighbors nearby.

They have people coming tomorrow to look at the damage and assess for insurance and filed a claim with Costco.

From what little information they are relaying to me, a plumber that came out today said the waterline to the fridge was twisted and caused a leak at the tap?

I told her the plumber was pathetic, if he did not go in the crawlspace to actually check it and fix it. I hope they didn’t pay him.

[A930Rocket]

On a side note, I see that bunched up plastic and it drives me nuts. They need to get into the crawlspace, straighten and or replace the plastic and any bad insulation, etc.

When I first started building houses in the Stone Age, that’s all I did because I was at the bottom of the totem pole. I cleaned all the crap out of the crawlspace, fixed the insulation and installed new plastic.

Being 6’ 4”, I made sure when I built houses, the crawlspace was high enough for me to get in there.

[Hugh R]

Plastic icemaker line

[MAS956]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Plastic icemaker line

My guess as well. Had a similar failure in a closet next to the kitchen sink through which was routed a plastic supply line to the fridge. $350 emergency plumber charge + $750 in drywall repair. Not my best day ever.

[Hugh R]

replaced one in FL in my newly acquired condo. Checked it three or four times, slow drip, drip, drip after 1/2 hour

[Bugsinrugs]

No ice makers in my houses! Ice cube trays only. Those plastic lines always start leaking as soon as you shut the front door to go on vacation.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

No ice makers in my houses! Ice cube trays only.

That's right.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by OldSpool87

Condensation on a cold water line?

That was my first thought. Condensation. If they are in the southeast, then it's probably very humid. If it's humid and the water in the pipes is cold enough, it could drip a lot, and in a cooler, humid environment under the home, the water won't evaporate quickly. But a leak due to the feed line to the fridge also seems like a good possibility.

[A930Rocket]

It’s definitely the fridge.

Hopefully I’ll get a update this afternoon.

[Chocaholic]

A claim with Costco? Let me guess...they’re also an insurance company?

Yes, ice maker line. Same issue here in a rental property. Our tenant ignored it until mold was all over the adjacent cabinets and in our crawl space.

[Cairo94507]

Well the good news is Costco will likely take care if it. In my last home, (sold in November) I had Costco come out and install a new HVAC system. The company they contracted with made sure the job was 100% to my satisfaction. They said if I had any issues they would take care of it promptly. Also, the price came in about $4K cheaper than any of the other bids. Total cost was about $14K. I was completely satisfied.

[zakthor]

Im 99% certain that anyone you can find to do this will not be able to do it right. Bids will be high because no-one wants to do it. Is the sort of job id do myself because its important and folks with half a brain would structure their lives to not do this sort of thing.

If its her house she needs to buy some ppe and get in there asap and start converging the situation to a place she wants to be. This is the joy of home ownership.

Maybe rent a cooling supplied air suit? Its going to be awful in there and you shouldnt breathe that air.

Water is off, right?

Biggest issue is mold so remove everything that is moist.

Redo the broken pipe and secure the icemaker line so this doesnt happen again.

Get it all dry with fans and cross flow, reinstall insulation, then make sure that plastic vapor barrier is back down smoothly, goes up sides of foundation and tape it to foundation.

EDIT: From photo with all the drips on the pvc... that is just the water that has found its way through the insulation and its vapor barrier. That insulation is soaked and all the wet stuff needs to come out. The moisture is being held in by the insulation vapor barrier so that fan isn't going to even start to touch the problem. Tear out all the wet stuff, get everything bone dry, then install new insulation, including getting it re-taped. The drying is going to take more than a week. If it was me working alone this is days and days of suffering in a narrow crawl space. Horrible job.

If you do find some fool to do the work you still need to go down there and check their work…