Crawl Space and Ground Water Damage in Dearing, Georgia

Which office answers a permit question in Dearing?

Dearing is in McDuffie County and is not part of the Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government. A repair that opens a floor, changes a foundation or rebuilds a structure is a question for the office that covers the address in Dearing, and the Augusta office does not answer it.

The technician records each change under the house, so the office can be given an accurate account. Drainage and vapor work is recorded separately from the drying, because the two may fall under different questions.

Dearing's nearest neighbor on the network is Harlem, about 8 km away, and Matthews is the next nearest at about 17 km. A crew sent from the Augusta line may pass near Grovetown or Harlem on the way in, which is why the line may send a crew from one of those places rather than from the city.

How does ground water get under a house in a town like this?

Water in the soil runs toward the lowest point of the lot, and when the soil is saturated, it can push up under a foundation or into a crawl space. The space under the house holds the moisture because the air in it is still, and the joists and the subfloor keep the damp for a long time.

The technician reads the space from its access point. The readings show whether the moisture is falling or still rising, and a steady reading over several visits suggests that the ground is still feeding the space.

How far is Dearing from the rest of the network, and what does that mean?

Dearing is one of the western points of the line's reach, with Harlem about 8 km away and Matthews about 17 km away. Grovetown is roughly 19 km off by its centroid. The crews that cover the western towns are the ones most likely to be sent, but the line sends whichever technician is free.

The distance does not change the work. A crawl space in Dearing is read, dried and recorded the same way as one in Augusta, and the file for the house is kept separately from every other address.

What does the homeowner keep after a ground water call?

The file starts with photographs of the access point, the water on the floor and the water line on the walls. The readings from the crawl space, the list of removed items and the drying log come next. A photograph of the outside grade near the foundation is useful if the water came from the ground.

Copies of the file can go to an insurer, a grading contractor or a repair contractor, and the original set stays with the homeowner for any later review.