Re: Fixing up crawl space

June 5, 2008

Fixing up crawl spacePosted by: " dglsrichey " dglsrichey@...

dglsricheyDate: Thu Jun 5, 2008 12:09 pm ((PDT)) Hi my name is Doug I am new to

the group. I want to better my crawl space. I have not checked for mold yet. It

has a dirt floor and the dirt is moist. What is the best way to check for mold

down there? I was thinking either way of covering the dirt with sand as a

protective covering. I thought I would skip the plastic as I heard that moisture

can build up under that. I would be open to suggestions as to anything to do

under there. It is about 25 ft square and about 3-4 ft. tall. Thanks Doug

There is considerable disagreement about how best to handle crawl spaces. But

almost all experts agree excess moisture in crawl spaces is a potential health

problem, and possibly may even lead to structural problems (rot).

I suggest you look up the web site www.homemoisture.org. Click on the

" presentations " header, and look at the Power Point presentations on making a

house more water safe. Hopefully, your house is on at least a little hill. If

so, dig a trench away from the house, extending it under the house footer into

the crawl space, extending the trench around the inside perimeter. Install

corrugated drainage pipe in the crawl space and run more pipe through the

outside trench to allow any water to drain away from the house. Cover the pipe

in the crawl space with gravel. Now, cover the soil in the crawl space with

heavy polyethylene film, sealing all seams. The polyethylene should also go up

the wall to the top of the concrete wall, and be sealed at the top. This will

prevent ground moisture from entering the crawl space and hopefully create a

healthier house.

_________________________________________________________________

Now you can invite friends from Facebook and other groups to join you on Windows

Live™ Messenger. Add now.

Recommended Posts