What is a crawlspace?  In the simplest terms, your crawlspace is the open area beneath your interior living area. They are completely unfinished and have no installed floor surface, no heating or cooling source and are not designed to be a habitable space. Crawlspaces are typically used to run plumbing and electrical distribution and collect plumbing waste for discharge into the sewer or septic system. Your furnace or air handler may be located in the crawlspace as well. Crawlspaces are easy to forget about or ingore. 

So, can I just ignore it? NO. Having a healthy crawlspace is a major step towards having a healthy home and preventing deterioration of your floor structure due to insects or moisture. The EPA estimates that approximately 50% of the air in the lower level of your home comes from the crawlspace. A damp, musty crawlspace will naturally bring mold spores and moisture into your home, reducing your indoor air quality and placing excess strain on your heating and cooling system. A damp crawlspace is also an inviting home for insects that want to make a feast out of your home as well as introduce additional 'pollutants' into the home.

What is a healthy crawlspace? A healthy crawlspace can come in a few different forms but the goal is to avoid chronic humidity and moisture conditions. A healthy crawlspace is a dry crawlspace.

How do I keep my crawlspace dry? There is a two sided approach to controlling crawlspace moisture levels.   1. Keep the water out. 2. If the water gets in, get it out. 

The first step in maintaining a dry, healthy crawlspace starts outside the foundation of your home. Grading around the structure should promote the flow of ground moisture away from the foundation and downspout extensions should be used to divert roof runoff away from your home. If you have negative grading, low spots, near your home where moisture pools after wet weather, corrective landscaping or drainage may be recommended to help move that water away from your home.

Depending on the grade of the lot your home is built on, these steps may not be sufficient to prevent chronic or intermittent elevated humidity levels in your crawlspace. If your crawlspace shows signs of elevated moisture conditions, then it's time to 'get the water out.' 

At Triad Crawlspace Services, we offer a number of different solutions for mitigating crawlspace moisture. No two homes are alike and there is not a 'one size fits all' approach to managing elevated humidity levels in the crawlspace foundation area. 

Will it really save me money? Yes, but not like that. If humidity in your crawlspace is elevated, water vapor will leak into your home via the stack effect  Humid air requires more energy to heat and cool and places excess strain on your HVAC system. Reducing the amount of water vapor in your home will improve the operating efficiency of your HVAC system but, honestly, it is unlikely that you would notice. 

Reducing the moisture levels in your crawlspace will prevent moisture from condensing on your subfloor insulation, which accelerates deterioration, lowers its insulating value and eventually causes it to fall apart and onto your crawlspace floor. Better insulation will mean reduced heating and cooling costs as well.