Repairing a Williamsburg, VA Crawl Space
Challenge
This Williamsburg, VA homeowner contacted us because they were experiencing musty odors and cold floors inside their home and wanted us to look at the crawl space to see what could be done to address this.
When we entered the crawl space, we found it was littered with debris from a previous project. Prior to our assessment, the client had someone else attempt to treat the mold, apply foam board insulation to the walls, and install a dehumidifier. The crawl space floor was covered with insulation scraps, fallen fiberglass, and trash was left behind from the previous project.
The existing vapor barrier was dirty, displaced, and missing in some areas allowing moisture from the earth to rise into the crawl space. Mold and mildew were present on the floor joists, causing the musty odors our homeowners were experiencing inside their home.
Fiberglass insulation appears to drip from the floor joists as a result of delamination. Delamination occurs when moisture is absorbed by the spongelike insulation, causing its fibers to separate. This wet insulation also holds moisture against the floor joists, promoting microbial growth during warmer months.
Some work certainly needed to be done to get this crawl space cleaned up and to address the cold floors and microbial growth, as well as prevent it in the future.
Solution
The homeowners opted to proceed with the project by breaking it up into two phases. The first phase began in January. Our team started this phase by cleaning out the old fiberglass insulation and any debris in the crawl space and straightening out the existing 6-mil temporarily (the liner will be addressed in phase 2). Next, they will treat the mold and mildew with an antimicrobial. Since it’s winter, the homeowners aren’t going to have to worry about the hot humid weather causing them more problems. Our team also performed a service on the existing dehumidifier to ensure it was running correctly, the unit was clean, and the drainage and condensate lines were clear of any clogs. As the last step of this phase, a new crawl space door was installed.
A few months later, before the weather began to warm up, our homeowners proceeded with phase two. A 10-mil clean space light vapor barrier is rolled out, all seams are overlapped and sealed. The liner is wrapped and sealed around all piers and attached and sealed to the foundation walls. Whoever previously installed the foam board insulation on the walls did not leave the required viewing strip for termite inspections, so our next step will be to cut the code-required viewing strip so that termite companies can perform their inspections.
Our homeowners now have a crawl space sealed off from outside air infiltration and the earth’s moisture. The dehumidifier will control the relative humidity to help prevent future microbial growth and a properly sealed crawl space door will help reduce the cold air flooding into the space causing those cold floors. With a clean, dry, crawl space, our homeowners won’t need to worry about microbial growth causing musty smells inside their house.
