How Do I Air Out My Crawl Space?
We've heard stories from friends and family about flooding water and soaked crawl spaces, even if we haven’t experienced it ourselves. On stormy nights, homeowners often question: How on earth do you dry out a crawl space when there’s all this moisture? During dry days it’s easy to get frustrated and wonder: How’s my crawl space still damp, and where’s the nasty smell coming from?
First Reaction: If you don’t know crawl space science, your first reaction would probably be ventilating the crawl space. And that makes sense at first. You want the area underneath your home to be dry and assume that making holes, windows, or vents will allow moisture to escape. This is the opposite of what to do if your goal is a dry, clean, mold and critter-free crawl space.
The Science: Moisture in your crawl space is caused by air moving freely in and out. Let’s get something clear. Water isn’t just ruining your house; water vapor is killing it. Moisture is created when the air must “give up its water” due to exceeding the relative humidity. The amount of water in the air relative to the maximum water the air can hold at that temperature is the relative humidity. If the water in the air exceeds that point, then the air gives up its water. This water vapor can manifest in your crawl space, create moisture, lead to mold, and inevitably start the deterioration process. With moisture in your crawl space, it’s easy for mold to grow, feeding on organic material. It’s likely the materials, such as wood, underneath your home are organic and will be destroyed by mold growth, causing structural damage to the home.
The Why: While ventilating the crawl space underneath your home seems logical, it’s detrimental. Ventilation allows more moisture into crawl spaces and ushers in outside air and organic material, feeding mold and allowing it to flourish. Air, water, and organic material under your house are the building blocks to solidify the future of mold growth. But this isn’t the only negative of a ventilated space beneath your feet. Especially in a weather-sporadic state like Michigan or Indiana, cold air seems to be able to get to you just about anywhere. If you don’t like having cold feet in the winter, you shouldn’t ventilate your crawl space. The cold air rushes below you, cooling the floor beneath your feet. Having a correctly encapsulated crawl space will fix your cold feet.
The Money: However, we all know what the big question is. How much will this cost me? How much will this save me? The answer is, fixing your crawl space the right way now will cost much less than getting more severe, expensive repairs done in the future. The answer is that this will save your home from future emergencies, eliminates mold and moisture, and prevent deterioration underneath your home. Ventilating your crawl space is like driving down the highway, windows down with loose cash flying everywhere. Enclosing and encapsulating your crawl space can reduce your energy costs!
The Solution: Now that you know you shouldn’t ventilate your crawl space, you’re probably wondering, what can I do? First, you can call Ayers and learn about our waterproofing solutions. CleanSpace is a vapor barrier installed on the walls and floors of the crawl space in a continuous, unventilated application designed to eliminate moisture and mold growth. Various sump pumps are designed to prevent failure, fit in any crawl space or basement, and remove leaking water. Dehumidifiers are engineered to remove moisture and humidity from the air to ensure a dry crawl space. Any or all of these solutions may be the best choice for “ventilating” your crawl space, and Ayers is happy to help you choose the right course of action!
