You accepted an offer, the buyer's inspector walked the property, and the report came back with a note about grading that slopes toward the house, downspouts dumping at the foundation, or a damp crawl space. Now the buyer wants it addressed or wants a price cut. For a Chattanooga seller, this is one of the most common snags in a sale, and it is usually easier to fix than it first looks.
Water that collects near a foundation is the root of most of the expensive problems a house can have: wet crawl spaces, mold, settling, rotted sill plates and buckled flooring. Inspectors are trained to flag it even when nothing is wrong yet, because the lender and the buyer will read the report. Hamilton County's red clay holds water, and many of our hillside lots send runoff straight toward the back wall of the house.
Before you spend real money, handle what costs almost nothing:
Gutters and downspouts. Clean them and make sure they are attached. Then extend every downspout so it discharges well away from the house. Our downspout drainage page shows the options, from simple extensions to buried lines.
Soil against the foundation. Mulch and dirt piled above the top of the foundation wall invite water in. Pull it back and rebuild a gentle slope away from the house.
Low spots next to the walls. Fill them with compacted soil, not loose topsoil that will settle after the first heavy rain.
These steps alone often satisfy an inspector and cost a weekend and a few bags of material.
If water is still pooling after those fixes, or the crawl space already shows moisture, you are looking at a drainage problem that grading cannot solve. A French drain intercepts water before it reaches the foundation and carries it to a safe discharge point. We cover how it works on our French drain installation page, and our cost guide explains what drives the price. For a broader look, see yard drainage.
If you are not sure whether you have a surface problem or a groundwater one, read signs your yard drainage has failed and crawl space water after rain.
You have a few ways to handle the request, and the right one depends on the schedule:
Do the work before closing and hand the buyer a receipt and a written description of what was done. This tends to close the issue completely.
Offer a credit based on a written quote, which lets the buyer choose their own approach. Be careful with this one, because buyers often assume the worst and ask for more than the work costs.
Do the simple surface fixes yourself and ask the buyer's inspector to re-check. A short follow-up note that says the grading was corrected is often enough.
Do not bury a problem under fresh mulch or sod right before the walkthrough. Buyers in this market tend to come back after a heavy rain, and water that reappears after closing is a much worse conversation than water that was fixed in escrow. Also avoid sending runoff toward a neighbor's property, which can turn a sale issue into a dispute.
We will come look at the lot, tell you whether this is a weekend fix or a drain job, and put the price in writing so you can use it in the negotiation. Call (423) 497-3591 and mention you are under contract so we can work to your closing date.
Free on-site drainage assessments · Fixed written quotes
Call (423) 497-3591