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Home»Crawl Space Repair»Photo Gallery»Cutting Off The Outside Influence in a Williamsburg, VA Crawl Space

Crawl Space Repair Photo Album: Cutting Off The Outside Influence in a Williamsburg, VA Crawl Space

This homeowner in Williamsburg called The Drying Company to inspect possible moisture issues within their crawl space. We sent out a Home Performance Advisor to evaluate the situation and found that many areas of the dirt flooring remained exposed, allowing the earth's moisture to rise into the crawl space and raise the relative humidity. This elevated relative humidity can lead to moisture damage, as well as mold and mildew growth. Another issue was that many of the fiberglass batts were falling out of the floor joists in damp, heavy chunks. This exposed the subfloor to the temperatures and conditions of the crawl space. We also noticed that the foundation walls of the crawl space were porous and uncovered, allowing moisture to seep through them. Open vents lined these foundation walls where the outside air and moisture can freely flow through them and affect the environment and relative humidity of the crawl space. The homeowners had a makeshift fan to help circulate and "air out" the crawl space, but that would not help mitigate the effects that moisture had within this space.

Exposed Dirt Floors

Many areas of the dir floor are exposed and unsealed. This allows the earth's moisture to rise into the crawl space and elevate the relative humidity, which can lead to codnensation, moisture damage to materials, and mold and mildew growth. The ground was also littered with chunks of fiberglass and other debris, making it difficult for servicepersons to manuever around the crawl space.

CleanSpace Vapor Barrier

We installed a heavy-duty 20mil vapor barrier, called CleanSpace, over the dirt flooring of this crawl space. This vapor barrier is wrapped around all piers, sealed with vinyl tape, and mechanically fastened to the foundation walls six to eight inches above the outside grade. This will help to mitigate the effect that the earth's moisture has on the overall relative humidity of the crawl space.

Porous Foundation Walls

The walls of this crawl space were made with porous cinderblocks, which allow moisture to seep through them and raise the relative humidity. The open vents lining these walls were also allowing air and moisture to flow into the crawl space, affecting the relative humidity and environment.

SilverGlo Foam Board

A 2-inch foam board, called SilverGlo, was installed over the foundation walls of this crawl space. It is mechanically fastened to the walls and sealed with can foam. The SilverGlo will act as an air barrier and vapor retarder, protecting the crawl space from any outside influence.

Crawl Space Entrance

The entrance to this crawl space was covered with a wooden door. Metal and wooden doors can often become warped by the outside weather and environment, which then creates gaps between the door and door frame. These gaps allow the outside air and moisture to infiltrate the crawl space and affect the relative humidity and environment of the crawl space.

Friction Fit Door

We installed a custom-made friction fit door to help seal the crawl space off from outside influence. This door is fitted behind the exterior crawl space door, and it is not affected by the outside environment. These friction fits are created on-site to ensure that they fit snugly within the entrance.

Old Custom Fans

An old fan was previously used within this crawl space to help protect the area from moisture. Unfortunately, this fan did not have the capability to combat the amount of moisture seeping into the crawl space and does nothing to lower the relative humidity. The fan in the foundation wall is only providing the purpose of allowing the outside air and moisture to freely flow into the crawl space and affect the relative humidity and environment.

Energy-efficient Dehumidifier

We installed this energy-efficient dehumidifier, called SaniDry Sedona, within this crawl space. This dehumidifier is used to help regulate the relative humidity while circulating dry air around the crawl space. A condensation pump is installed in connection to the dehumidifier to drain out any moisture collected, while a WaterWatch alarm is connected to alert the homeowners of any problems with the dehumidifier.