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"The Crawlspace"
By: Darren Lombardo
Did you know that a crawlspace is the most important part of a home? What goes on beneath a home determines what is going on inside the home, environmentally speaking. Dirt crawl spaces have the high humidity levels necessary for mold growth, and create the perfect habitat for critters. No matter if you have water in your crawlspace or not, humidity levels from 50% to 90% are easily found below, even if your crawlspace appears to be dry. Dig down an inch or two; there is moist dirt! The top layer has evaporated some of the water, making it look dry to the eye. Direct ground exposure beneath a home allows water vapor and condensation to rise up from the ground into floors and walls, which will cause:
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What can we do? What you don’t want do is use regular 6 MIL plastic found in hardware stores (it doesn’t work). What you can do is line your crawlspace with a multi-ply reinforced polyethylene liner with a minimum thickness of 14 MIL. Like a pool liner, the entire crawlspace is encapsulated right up to the top of the foundation block. Also, all foundation vents need to be sealed off. This makes a huge difference in both your home’s energy efficiency and its overall environment.
