Specialty home services
The high-value jobs that come with living in the Triangle. Here's what they cost, why our climate and soil cause them, and how to hire the right specialist.
- Crawlspace EncapsulationSeal out the ground moisture our humid NC climate drives into vented crawlspaces.
- Radon MitigationTest first, because radon varies house to house, even on the same street. Then vent it if it comes back high.
- Septic SystemsMuch of the outer Triangle is on septic, and our clay soils drive the system type and cost.
- Water WellsPiedmont bedrock makes well depth, and the cost that follows it, hard to predict until they drill.
- Yard DrainageRed clay plus heavy summer storms is why standing water and wet crawlspaces are so common here.
Why these jobs come up here
These are not universal home repairs. They cluster in the Piedmont because of what is under the house and what the air does to it, which is also why a general handyman is usually the wrong call for them.
Clay soil that moves with the weather
Piedmont clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. That seasonal movement is behind most of the drainage work, a good share of the foundation and crawlspace complaints, and why a French drain that was fine for a decade suddenly is not.
Humidity that has nowhere to go
A vented crawlspace in a humid summer pulls moist air in and cools it against the ground, which is a machine for making condensation. That is the whole reason encapsulation exists as a trade here rather than a niche.
Geology that produces radon
Parts of the Triangle sit on granite and shale that release radon as they break down. It is invisible and it varies house by house on the same street, so a neighbour's test result tells you very little about yours.
Houses off municipal water and sewer
Plenty of Triangle property is still on a well and a septic field. Both are systems a homeowner is responsible for maintaining, and both fail slowly and expensively when nobody is looking at them.
Not sure which one you have?
Damp that comes and goes with the weather is usually drainage or the crawlspace. A smell that does not shift is more often septic. Radon has no symptoms at all and is only ever found by testing. If you are not sure, describe the problem and let a few specialists tell you what they think it is.
Describe the problem