Hawkins County
Crawl Space and Basement Water Help in Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel sits just west of Kingsport in Hawkins County, and its rules are its own. Here is what a homeowner there should know before crawl space or drainage work begins.
Call (423) 555-0114Your call goes to an independent local waterproofing company.
The town issues the permits here
Mount Carmel runs its own building inspection, separate from Kingsport and from Hawkins County. The town's building inspection page says permits are required for remodeling and for new or changed plumbing and mechanical systems, and it lists the small jobs that are exempt. Applications go through the town's online permit portal. City Hall is at 100 Main Street East, (423) 357-7311.
Three parts of a crawl space or drainage job are the likeliest to count: repairs to the floor framing, plumbing for a sump pump, and a retaining wall. The town requires a permit for a retaining wall more than four feet high, measured from the bottom of its footing. That matters if regrading a sloped yard means holding soil back.
Where pumped water may go
Mount Carmel is a regulated stormwater community, and reports of illegal discharges go to City Hall. Clean ground water from a crawl space pump is a different thing from wash water or sewage. Hawkins County's stormwater page, which covers the built-up area around the town, names crawl space sump pump discharges among its exempt examples. Have the pipe end on your own lot where the water can run off without crossing a neighbor's.
Just outside the town limits
Past the town boundary you are in unincorporated Hawkins County, which issues no building permits of its own. The county does manage stormwater in the area north of US Highway 11-W within about a mile of the Mount Carmel limits. To find out whether your lot is inside that area, the county says to call its office on (423) 272-7359.
When you call about a Mount Carmel house
- Say whether the house is inside the town limits or just outside.
- Say whether the yard slopes toward the house and from which side.
- Mention any pump already under the house and where its pipe comes out.
Call (423) 555-0114 to talk with an independent local waterproofing company. For what the work involves, see crawl space repair and encapsulation.