Crawl space wet

[Candi]

had house leveled. Three months later noticed my sheet rock was shifting and cracking at an alarming rate. Found I had a leak under house. Got my leak fixed. And I'm needing to know how long it will take for the mud under house to dry. It's been three weeks house has not settled back yet. Looked under house and noticed that there was plastic laid out all inunder my house. Will that keep it from drying out and if so do I need to remove it. How long does this take to dry out. Spent a lot of money getting house leveled and it's worse now than before. They said when it dries house should settle back to normal. Is this true?

 

[CountryBumkin]

Your "Poll" doesn't seem to ask the correct question. It should be "Yes" or "No" if your wanting opinions on whether or not to remove the plastic.
But I don't think you have explained your situation clearly enough to get opinions on how to fix things.

The plastic (vapor barrier) is to keep water vapor in the ground/soil from permeating into your house. See this http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/crawl-space-ventilation.pdf

But you say (I think) the ground (mud) under the plastic is wet from a prior leak.
What does the wet mud" have to do with the house being level or not? How does wet mud cause the house become unlevelled?
How is your house supported (on foundation wall or posts)?

I don't understand what you are saying - maybe someone else will understand. Can you post a picture?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

If you have a wet crawl space, I would leave the plastic and vent the crawl space -- at least until the wetness is gone.

 

[Candi]

This is before the leak was fixed. But there was water under the plastic. Needing to know if the plastic needs to come out so the area can dry under it

 

[FullySprinklered]

My sister used to live in Amarillo. As I understand it, there's a clay out there with a high expansion rate when it gets wet, and apparently it will mess up a foundation when it expands and contracts. If I'm remembering it right, a slab was the preferred foundation in that area because it would maintain structural integrity in spite of the movement since it sits on top of the clay. What you need in your case is a stable moisture content under your house, I'm guessing.

 

[Candi]

I went ahead and pluses the plastic out today and yes it was still wet under it after three weeks. Put a fan to vent it out. Hopefully that will dry it out