As we have stated in many of our earlier articles, crawl space is prone to a number of problems that deteriorate a home and its value like anything.
Therefore, it is important to take preventive measures to keep it healthy and safe. In this article, we will mention some methods you might want to consider to maintain the overall wellbeing of your crawl space.
We generally underestimate the importance of crawlspace cleanups in keeping the place healthy.
This place beneath your home is quite hideous and overlooked. It includes plumbing, gas hookups, electrical wires, ventilation, etc.
The overlooked crawl space develops molds, fungus, gets infected with unwanted animals, standing water, causes energy loss and structural collapse too.
How do you take care of it? The answer is frequent crawlspace cleanups. It’s quite obvious but still, people do not consider spending their time or money cleaning up the crawl space.
Crawl space cleanup is a process of cleaning the basement of your house from every corner, identifying the potential problems, dealing with them, and keeping your crawl space dry, clean, hygienic, and energy-efficient.
Advantages of crawl space cleanup
- Transform the moldy and dirty crawl space into a clean and usable space.
- It exposes the potential problems arising in your crawl space.
- By maintaining optimum air conditioning, it makes your crawl space energy efficient.
- It keeps the place dry, fresh and less appealing to pests and rodents.
In short, cleanups are mandatory to keep the basement healthy.
Crawl space encapsulation
Encapsulation is one effective preventive measure you can adopt to save your crawl space from many future problems.
Crawl space encapsulation means encapsulating your basement area usually with a white vapor barrier to cover it everywhere from floor to walls and protect the surface area from water vapor.
The primary problem is we do not address the issues on time and take any preventive measures to stop them. Hence the raising problems become bigger and start causing serious troubles.
For example, you might notice that your crawl space is prone to moisture. If you do not deal with the situation, it will definitely start damaging your place and leads to mold infestation which will, in turn, start destroying the place.
Problems with open crawl spaces
- Non encapsulated crawl space area has a large temperature and humidity level variations. This way it becomes hard to control the preferable environment inside the crawl space.
- Open areas are prone to water damage. The water seeps inside the crawl space area and the moisture damages the surfaces and invites some more additional problems like mold infestation, rodents, pests, etc.
- Open crawl spaces are dirty, messy and require very frequent cleanup treatments.
- With no barrier, the open basement becomes susceptible and exposed to various other problems.
What happens when a crawl space is encapsulated?
- A vapor barrier is created on the ground with 100% moisture coverage.
- Cracks or open vents are sealed properly
- Effective conditioning of air takes place
- Ground surface and walls are properly insulated
Benefits of having an encapsulated crawl space
- Durability of the place increases.
- The encapsulated area becomes less prone to many problems.
- Air quality gets better.
- The area becomes energy efficient as the air inside becomes properly conditioned.
- It becomes easy to maintain optimum temperature and humidity, making it more comfortable and energy-efficient.
Molds are devastating for your home and cannot be ignored at any cost. This causes irreversible damage to your crawl space and becomes a threat to the health of your family.
The best way to prevent molds:-
If you follow the above two methods (cleanup and encapsulation), then there is less possibility your crawl space would develop molds.
Mold growth can easily be ceased by sealing and encapsulating it. With encapsulation, there is no scope of moisture to enter the place and give rise to molds.
Frequent cleaning and an effective encapsulation control the moisture in the air, keeping it dry and secure, making the area less susceptible to be infected.
That said, our expert suggests keeping your basement clean and encapsulated in order to avoid molds. However, if you notice them in your crawl space, it’s time to take immediate action.
How to get rid of molds in the crawl space?
If the mold infestation is at its initial stage, you can start killing them by yourself using bleach, tea tree oil, sodium bicarbonate, and some other mold removal products.
When the situation does not improve, you need professional help for active mold removal. You can take the help of good crawl space experts to deal with growing molds in your area without causing you any trouble.
Crawlspace Remedy is here for you with a range of crawl space solutions including efficient cleanup, encapsulation, and mold removal services. Contact us at 206-387-8563 and get a free consultation. Our experts will come and inspect your home and suggest the best treatment required to keep your crawl space clean, healthy and useful.