If you have a crawlspace in your home, you know that it is an area of the home that has a tendency to become damp and humid. Water seeps in through the porous concrete that makes up the crawlspace walls or through cracks in the foundation. Vented crawlspaces might even have moisture problems related to outside humidity since the vents allow the humid air to get inside. If you notice condensation on the walls or pipes, damp or soft spots in the walls or floor, visible mold or mildew, rust or wood rot, musty odors, or wet crawlspace insulation, you may have a moisture issue in your crawlspace.
You might wonder if this is really a big deal – after all, you probably don’t spend a lot of time in your crawlspace. But even if you don’t spend time there, damp and humid conditions in the crawlspace can lead to several serious moisture-related issues. Fortunately, Affordable Foundation and Home Repair offers a range of crawlspace solutions to turn your wet crawlspace into a dry crawlspace.
Why is a Dry Crawlspace Important?
Excess moisture can lead to water damage, rot, and rust, which will damage anything that you might be storing in your crawlspace and can even cause structural damage. can cause damage to your property, structural damage, and can negatively affect the health of you and your family. Too much moisture can also cause mold growth, which lessens the quality of air throughout your home and can lead to health issues for you and your family.
Following are some of the problems that result when your crawlspace is not dry and clean:
- Wood Rot: Moist atmospheres can promote wood rot, damaging wooden items stored in the crawlspace and possibly resulting in structural damage to beams and posts in the crawlspace.
- Metal Rust: Sitting water and condensation can also result in rusty metal, damaging metal items stored in the crawlspace and causing structural damage to metal support structures.
- Mold Growth: Damp, humid crawlspaces are prone to developing a mold problem. Mold can ruin personal possessions in the crawlspace. In addition, mold spores in the crawlspace air circulate throughout the home, causing health issues for you and your family.
- Pest Infestation: Moist environments attract all kinds of pests, from spiders, beetles, and other insects to mice and other kinds of rodents. These pests might chew on possessions stored in the crawlspace and could carry diseases.
- Water Damage: Sitting water and puddles can also cause water stains and water damage to crawlspace surfaces or to things stored in the crawlspace.
This is why having a dry crawlspace is important. Keeping your crawlspace dry ensures a much cleaner and healthier space for storage and other purposes.
Crawlspace Plastic for a Dry Crawlspace and a Clean Space
Once you have your crawlspace fully waterproofed, it is much easier to keep the space clean. Getting your crawlspace dry and clean, however, usually involves a couple of different steps and systems. It may be necessary to remove any items being stored in the crawlspace before installing a vapor barrier or other long-term moisture solutions. This may include removing crawlspace insulation and stripping the whole area down.
Crawlspace Drainage
Ensuring that the ground around your crawlspace provides proper drainage is an important step in keeping the space clean and dry. We install exterior drainage and surface drainage systems to reroute water from the surface of the ground away from the crawlspace and to keep groundwater from seeping through the crawlspace walls. Surface drainage includes the gutters, downspouts, and grading of the landscaping around the house as well as catch basins/grates, French drains, and pop-up emitters.
Crawlspace Encapsulation
The key to keeping your crawlspace totally dry is to have a vapor barrier installed. The vapor barrier is a kind of plastic liner, much like a swimming pool liner, that covers the walls, floors, and any pipes or beams in the space. The process of installing the barrier is known as crawlspace encapsulation, as the barrier covers the interior surface of the crawlspace. This vapor barrier is moisture resistant and prevents water vapor from seeping into the crawlspace through the crawlspace walls and floors. Not only will a vapor barrier prevent water from seeping inside, but it will also increase the home’s value by lowering energy bills and improving indoor air quality.
In addition to these services, we also offer services to remove mold from your crawlspace and fix any structural damage that might have resulted from water problems. For mold remediation, we use a technique called mold soda blasting. In this technique, highly pressurized baking soda is blasted at crawlspace surfaces to gently remove mold and clean the space. For structural repair, we offer crawlspace piers, floor joist repair, floor supports, and various kinds of foundation underpinning.
Whatever type of moisture problem your crawlspace is suffering from, call Affordable Foundation and Home Repair right away – we will make sure your crawlspace is properly waterproofed – a dry crawlspace is a clean space!
