Water pooling under a house is a problem that hides in plain sight, mostly because almost nobody goes down to look. Homeowners discover it when a plumber mentions it offhand, when a home inspector comes through before a sale, or when the smell finally gets strong enough to force the question. Sealing a liner over that water accomplishes nothing, since the moisture stays trapped underneath and keeps evaporating around the edges. A&A Waterproofing has been doing crawl space drainage system installation for property owners throughout Marietta, GA, and the nearby counties since 1996, and giving the water a route out has to come first.
Three decades of local work stand behind A&A Waterproofing, the veteran-owned waterproofing and foundation repair contractor Allen Aschwege operates from Marietta, Georgia. Managing water beneath homes is a core service for our crews, covering evaluation of where water enters and where it can discharge, trenching and installing perforated drain lines in washed stone, setting sump basins and pumps where gravity cannot carry water out, extending discharge lines away from the foundation, and correcting exterior grading and downspout placement that feed the problem. Residential and commercial customers alike hire us, all of them located around Marietta and the towns nearby. Nothing we take on involves new construction, and coming out to assess a property costs nothing.
Wet crawl spaces reveal themselves through a familiar set of conditions. Puddles or saturated soil that never fully dries, mud where the dirt should be firm, water lines staining the piers a few inches up, a strong earthy smell rising into the house, and rust forming on anything metal down there. Structural wood absorbs it over time, which is how a water problem eventually turns into soft joists and sagging floors.
Water gets under a house the same way it gets into a basement. Clay soil around the foundation holds rainfall rather than draining it, and saturated ground pushes moisture through block walls and up through the dirt floor. Downspouts discharging at the corner of the house, a yard that slopes back toward the foundation, missing or collapsed footing drains, and low spots that collect runoff all deliver more water to the perimeter than the ground can absorb. Crawl spaces sitting below the surrounding grade collect what has nowhere else to go.
Our installations work with the layout of your particular space. Crews trench along the interior perimeter or through the low areas where water collects, lay perforated pipe surrounded by washed stone that lets water enter from every direction, and slope everything toward a discharge point. Properties with enough elevation can drain by gravity to daylight, while flatter lots need a sump basin with a pump sized to the volume the space actually takes on. Discharge lines run far enough from the foundation that the water does not simply return, and we address the exterior conditions feeding the problem while we're there.
With the system running, the ground under your house dries out and stays that way through the seasons that used to cause trouble. Wood framing stops absorbing moisture, the smell disappears, and a liner or sealed system installed afterward actually performs as intended. Qualifying installations carry written warranty terms, giving you documentation of a condition that comes up in nearly every home inspection.
Removing standing water changes conditions under a home more than any other single improvement, and here is what it accomplishes.
Joists, beams, sills, and subfloor stay sound as long as they're dry, and rot from prolonged moisture is what leads to soft floors and expensive framing repairs. Draining the space protects material that would otherwise deteriorate slowly for years. Insects that seek out damp wood lose their preferred conditions as well.
Covering saturated ground traps water beneath the barrier where it continues evaporating and finding its way around the edges. Handling drainage first is what allows a sealed system to hold humidity at a safe level. Sequence matters more than people expect on these projects.
That earthy, musty smell drifting up through the floors comes from wet soil and the growth it supports, and both disappear once the ground dries. Households usually notice the change within a couple of weeks. The improvement carries into every room since the air moves upward through the house.
Ductwork, water heaters, plumbing connections, and electrical components corrode faster in a damp environment. Drying the space extends the service life of everything installed under the house. Replacement costs for corroded ductwork alone frequently exceed what drainage would have cost.
Standing water under a house shows up in home inspections without fail and gives buyers real leverage during a sale. An installed drainage system with documentation turns that finding into a solved problem. Sellers around Cobb County run into this question constantly.
Water management is one layer of what a crawl space usually needs, and these services address the remaining ones.
Once the water is handled, sealing the space is what brings humidity down and improves the air upstairs, and our crawl space encapsulation service combines liner, vent sealing, dehumidification, and mold treatment into a complete system. Drainage and encapsulation are frequently done as one project for that reason.
Ground vapor continues rising even after liquid water is gone, and our crawl space vapor barrier installation work covers the soil and foundation walls with sealed material to cut that off. The liner goes down after drainage rather than before.
Drainage belongs to the broader crawl space repair and encapsulation work we perform, which also includes cleanout, fungicide treatment, dehumidifier installation, and vent fan options. Every recommendation follows from what we find under a specific house.
Designing a system that actually moves water takes more thought than digging a trench, and this is the approach we bring.
Allen looks at the grade outside, where downspouts discharge, how the lot drains, and where water is entering under the house before designing anything. Some crawl spaces need very little once exterior corrections are made. Understanding the source often reduces the size of the system required.
A drain line is only as useful as the place it empties, so identifying a workable outlet comes early in the process. Gravity discharge is simpler and needs no power when the property allows it, while flat lots require a pump. Getting that decision right prevents a system that collects water and has nowhere to send it.
Undersized pumps are among the most common failures we're called out to replace, because they were selected without regard to how much water the space actually produces. Capacity, basin size, and discharge routing all get matched to the property. Battery backup comes up in the conversation since outages and storms tend to coincide.
Operating from Marietta since 1996 as a veteran-owned business, this company has drained crawl spaces across every soil condition in the surrounding counties. Longevity means we're still reachable if something needs attention down the road.
There's no charge to come out, get under the house, and put together a plan with pricing. Financing on larger scopes runs through Acorn Finance, and firefighters, police officers, veterans, active-duty military, and EMTs take 10% off with our Hometown Heroes discount.
Warning signs you can spot without going down include a musty smell in the house, floors that feel cool and damp, rusting duct connections visible through a vent opening, and higher than normal humidity on the main floor. Older houses across Cobb and Paulding counties run into it more often than newer construction does. A free inspection removes the guesswork entirely.
Properties with enough fall can discharge by gravity to a lower point, which is simpler and needs no electricity. Flatter lots throughout Smyrna, Mableton, and parts of Marietta usually require a basin and pump to lift water out. Our evaluation determines which your property supports before anything gets installed.
Yes, though tight clearance makes trenching slower and more labor intensive. Our crews work in low spaces regularly across older homes in this area, and the estimate accounts for the added time up front. Occasionally an access opening needs enlarging, and we mention that before starting.
Sometimes it genuinely does, and we'd rather tell you that than sell a system you don't need. Downspouts discharging at the foundation corner deliver an enormous volume of water to exactly the wrong spot, and extending them well away occasionally fixes a wet crawl space on its own. Our assessment always covers exterior conditions first.
Most crawl space drainage projects run one to three days depending on square footage, clearance, whether a sump basin is involved, and how far the discharge line has to travel. Weather affects the exterior portion more than the work underneath. Our team gives you a realistic schedule with the quote.
FAQs reviewed by Allen Aschwege, who has owned A&A Waterproofing, a Marietta, GA, crawl space and waterproofing service, since 1996.
Give us a call and we'll get under the house, find out where the water is coming from, and lay out what a drainage system would involve. Occasionally the fix turns out to be gutters rather than a drainage system, and that's exactly the sort of thing we'd rather tell you.
Business Name: A&A Waterproofing
Address: Marietta, GA, 30064
Phone: 770-443-1155
Business Hours:
Mon - Sat: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Hometown Heroes Discount
We're proud to offer 10% off for veterans, active-duty military, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders as a thank-you for your service.
Comprehensive Warranty Coverage
We stand behind the quality of our work. Warranty coverage varies by service and repair, with options ranging from 10-year warranties to lifetime warranties on qualifying projects.
