SUMMER ISSUES IN THE CRAWL SPACE

KEEPING THE HOME HEALTHY ALL YEAR ROUND

As the summer season arrives in the PNW, there are various household maintenance tasks that should be addressed by homeowners. One of these such issues is the homes crawl space. While out of site, this space is the ground work for your homes health. If your crawl space doesn't have a long term solution installed, a multitude of issues can arise at any time of the year. When the temperatures rises, moisture threatens your homes health, and often critters will seek a cool damp escape from the heat. If left unattended, these can lead to costly repairs. 

Moisture Management: With the summertime heat, humidity and moisture can creep into your homes wooden beams and posts. This creates an ideal breeding ground for mold and mildew to grow and spread, causing damage and leading to rot. Fiberglass in particular adds to this issue for it absorbs moisture out of the air and holds it against the underside of the home, allowing the moisture to fester.

Pest Invasions: Both rodents and insects are attracted to cool and damp environments during the warmer months. A crawl space offers both of these, bringing unwanted guests into your homes below-grade area. These uninvited guest can leave behind droppings, damage the wood, and if they die here, the smell of their decay can draft up into the living spaces. 

Air Flow: Often crawl spaces are left open to the outdoors via vents. This provides access under the home for unwanted critters and allows the higher heat from outside to be pulled under the home, where it meets the cooler ground and the stark change in temperature leads to condensation, feeding into the moisture management issue. 

To keep a crawl space healthy, we recommend a full encapsulation. This will bring the crawl space into the homes envelope, which will address all of the above issues. Firstly the fiberglass insulation is removed, meaning moisture cannot be absorbed into it and held against the underside of the home. We install a drain system with a sump pump, which will be fed any excess moisture that is collected by the dehumidifier we install. We also use a 20 Mil woven vapor barrier. This woven fiber makes it more durable and also deters critters from chewing through it, keeping critters out! It wraps under each wooden post so moisture doesn't enter the wooden pieces of your home, and it is fully sealed into place with our special four inch wide waterproof tape. This keeps insects, critters, and moisture from penetrating into the crawlspace from the dirt floor. The foundation walls are then insulated and air sealed with Spray Foam. Once the crawl space is fully encapsulated its controlled environment will keep it healthy and dry all year round. 

If you wish to learn more, we provide free in-home inspections where your home can be looked at and you may speak with one of our dedicated system design specialist who can address any questions you have.