Crawl Space Science
Did you know that a vented crawl space can increase your heating and cooling bills by 16-26 percent? Did you know that having a dirt floor vented crawl space can be conducive to wood rot, moisture and mold growth? Probably not. However, if you own a home w/ a vented dirt crawlspace, you need to know a few things.
Because traditional construction practices allow for vented dirt crawl spaces, they are susceptible to moisture from both the ground and the outside air. Exposed earth never truly dries, but it does allow for vapor to continually rise and affect the moisture levels w/ in all wooden members in the crawl space. Construction materials are commonly organic and they are porous. This is a bad combination and leads to increased moisture levels and invite growth of fungi and insects. This also affects the humidity in your living space or your home. Most homes also have ductwork that when cooled, condense when meeting the hot humid air so common here in the south. This condensation drips all summer long and greatly increases the moisture levels in the wood in your crawl space. Where there is moisture, there is gonna be mold. This is inevitable. This article is important because many homes look beautiful from the outside and at no fault of the homeowner are sitting on top of Petry dish of unwanted growth and activity. Unless addressed at construction, there is nearly always an air exchange between the crawl space and the living space. You are what you eat, but did you know you are what you breathe? Sitting on top of a moldy, wet, inefficient crawl space is not a desirable position to be in. Do you know what is in your crawl space? Call Douglas Whitehead II @ ‘Array of Solutions’ or go to Arrayofsolutions.com and find out what you don’t know.
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Array of Solutions Crawlspace Article 4
