This winter has been hard on many who live in the Treasure Valley from ice dams, to broken pipes, to flooding, but now there's a new warning. All this melting snow can actually seep through the ground and get into your basement or crawl space.
"As soon as you have water standing next to the foundation, it will find a way in," Stan Audette with AAD Inspection Corp. said.
Audette has been inspecting homes for more than 20 years and says with this year's historic snowfall starting to melt, it can cause problems in people's crawl spaces and basements. He says that's why it's important that you check those areas.
"You don't have to go down there, but if you're hit with musty, smelly smells and damp air, go looking a little bit further," Audette said.
Audette added to help avoid water in your basement or crawl space, you want to make sure the ground is sloping away from your home and not towards it.
"Having gutters and down spouts directing water away, especially have the soil sloping away from the house," Audette said.
If a puddle does start to form, do what you can to get the water away from your home. Restoration crews say if you still have snow built up, you can always remove it.
"Just like people shovel their driveway, you can shovel it away from your home," Troy Ball with Complete Restoration Services said.
Ball says they’ve seen additional leaking in areas they typically don't see because of this year's brutal winter.
"Some are experiencing so much snow buildup that they are having some ground water come in," Ball said.
If the water is left under your home and unattended for too long, it can cause greater problems.
"Mold will grow, it will spread, and there are different types of mold. They're never good to breathe in," Ball said.
The mold can also make you sick, which is why Ball says it always good to check those crawl spaces; if you do see any type of water, you don't want to ignore it.
"It's not going to disappear without any problem. It's probably gotten some other things wet. It’s probably caused some issues that you might not be aware of until a long time in the future," Ball said.
The Department of Insurance says every homeowner insurance policy is different, so if you have any type of water damage it's important that you talk to your agent and see what's covered and what's not.