Crawl Space Repair in Carson, VA
Challenge
A Carson, VA family reached out to us wanting to have their crawl space redone. They had been experiencing musty odors in the home, cold floors in the winter, and knew some work needed to be done under their home.
Upon inspection, our technicians found mold growth on the floor joists, a missing and damaged vapor barrier, high relative humidity, fallen insulation, high wood moisture content, and a water-damaged access door.
Mold begins to grow on organic materials with warm temperatures and high humidity (60%+).
The vapor barrier in the crawl space was bunched up, torn, and missing in some places. The purpose of a vapor barrier is to protect the crawl space from the earth's moisture. In this case, the vapor barrier isn't doing its job and the moisture in the ground is impacting the humidity of the crawl space.
The fiberglass insulation installed between the floor joists has begun to fall and delaminate. Delamination occurs when the fibers pull apart, and the insulation looks like it's dripping from the floor joists. Whole sections that have fallen is often due to the insulation absorbing water and moisture and becoming too heavy to stay in place.
Wood moisture content should be below 19% to prevent wood rot. In this crawl space, we had readings up to 32% wood moisture content on joists.
Solution
To repair this crawl space, our team is going to start by cleaning out all of the old insulation, vapor barrier, and debris.
Next, we'll treat the mold growth with an antimicrobial. This will kill the mold, but it does not prevent regrowth. The only way to prevent mold from regrowing is to control the relative humidity of the environment.
A heavy-duty vapor barrier is then installed on the crawl space floor, it is run up the foundation walls above outside grade, and wrapped around piers. The liner is sealed, preventing the earth's moisture from rising into the crawl space. (It is important to note that a vapor barrier only protects from water vapor and not bulk ground water. In a home where there was bulk water, a drainage system with a sump pump would be recommended.)
Closed-cell spray foam insulation is applied to the foundation walls. The rim band is insulated with the foam as well, and the sill plate is sealed. Insulating and air sealing the crawl space helps keep out warm, damp air and drafts. This means that the homeowners won't experience things like cold floors in the winter, and drafts will be greatly reduced.
A SaniDry Dehumidifier is installed. This is the key to controlling the relative humidity in the crawl space and protecting it from future microbial growth. This energy-efficient dehumidifier cuts on when the humidity in the crawl space increases over 60% circulating dry air throughout the crawl space.
Finally, a new crawl space door is installed. This door is designed not to rust, rot, or warp, and is HOA-friendly!
