Problem Signs
Your home is a system, and every part of that system plays a role that affects the rest of the structure. If your crawl space begins to rot, grow mold, or experience structural problems, this will extend to every part of your home.
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Dry Rot Damage
Protect your home from damaging wood rot before it impacts your home and your families health.
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Crawl Space Mold
Don’t let crawl space mold take over your home and threaten your families health.
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Termite & Insect Prevention
Termites and other pests do not belong in your house, but they can often be found in your crawl space.
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Crawl Space Humidity
Crawl space humidity is a common problem, but many homeowners may not know what to do next.
Causes
While various factors can impact your crawl space and home, the biggest culprit has to do with the way your home was constructed.
The stack effect refers to the airflow pattern in a house from bottom to top, like a chimney. Air enters at the bottom, rises through the structure, and is expelled through the top. It all has to do with air pressure. Air flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. When there is a greater difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures, the more significant this airflow becomes. (Source: Fine Homebuilding)
To get a better understanding of the stack effect, it might be beneficial to see it in action. While you can’t see airflow, there is a great demonstration of the stack effect in a YouTube video from the Cold Climate Housing Research Center titled “Your Nothern Home: Stack Effect.”
More than half the air you are breathing inside your house comes from the crawl space. So, whatever is in your crawl space – such as mold and high humidity – also is in the air circulating throughout the rest of the house and affecting your living environment.
There are different ways water can enter a crawl space – through the walls, floor, open vents, and plumbing leaks. No matter how it got in, it’s a big problem. Areas of leaking, standing water are very attractive to bugs and other pests who seek shelter and a food source. Water can easily saturate soft fiberglass insulation and lead to mold growth, and wet support systems can fail to do their job and contribute to sagging floors.
If there is high humidity in the crawl space along with water, this is a recipe for disaster. Humidity levels above 50% contribute to mold growth, unpleasant odors, failing support systems and more. Crawl spaces commonly have high relative humidity and moisture. These conditions promote mold growth, especially on organic materials like wood and insulation. Moisture in the crawl space also can enter other areas of the home through cracks in walls, floors, and the ceiling, and contribute to mold growth there. (Source: EPA)
Solutions
Now that you’ve learned more about crawl space problems and why it’s important to address them, are you ready to take back your home with needed repairs?
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Access & Window Well
Save money by keeping heat in and cold out of your crawl space with the news access well.
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Crawl Space Dehumidifiers
A crawl space that doesn’t have proper air flow will have problems with moisture, mold, and wood rot. An energy-efficient dehumidifier can help.
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Crawl Seal Vapor Barrier
Vapor barriers are essential in sealing your crawl space, they keep your crawl space dry and protect your structure from mold and rot.
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Support Beam Jacks
These specially designed jacks repair your sagging crawl space — without rebuilding!
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