Why bother maintaining your crawlspace when no one sees it? Lots of reasons.
Most of the air in your home comes in through your crawl space, so having a moist, dirty, and moldy crawl space will result in lessened air quality in your home. This causes a huge downward effect on your health.
Not only will maintaining your crawl space help keep your air healthy but properly treating it can also save you money on your electric bill.
Here are 5 tips for crawl space maintenance:
- Control Moisture
- Insulate Your Crawlspace
- Keep Pests Out
- Install a Vapor Barrier
- Remove Debris
Control Moisture
Moisture may seem harmless, but it can do a ton of structural damage to your home. Moisture leads to mold growth which can damage your house, cause allergies, and make the air less healthy. Therefore, crawl space moisture control is your first step to protecting your environment.
You should also make sure that your gutters direct water away from your house and that your sidewalks are sloped so that water runs away from your crawlspace. Also, research curtain drains. These solutions can help keep your crawlspace dry. If you have a significant moisture problem, a sump pump can help. A sump pump is a small device that sucks water from your crawlspace and sends it out away from your home to keep your crawlspace from flooding.
Insulate Your Crawlspace
Crawlspace insulation can help control the temperature of your house, keeping it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. There are many different kinds of insulation which work better for different situations. Insulation is an important part of maintaining your crawlspace.
According to The Columbian, “Adding insulation to the underside of your floor via the crawl space will substantially improve your home’s indoor climate all year long. It should have at least R-19 insulation, but the thicker the better.” Just remember, never block the vents in your foundation. Blocking the vents could seal in radon (an odorless, invisible, carcinogenic gas) which could lead to serious health problems (such as cancer) for you and your family.
According to the EPA, “Testing is the only way to find out your home’s radon levels. EPA and the Surgeon General recommend testing all homes below the third floor for radon.” Twenty-one thousand people die from radon-related cancer each year just in the U.S, so get your home tested.
Our experts can help you determine if you need insulation and what type you should use. We serve locations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Indiana.
Keep Pests Out
Make sure that insects and mice can’t get into your crawlspace as they can do a lot of damage, chewing on insulation, wires, and wood. Reducing moisture will help keep them out, but you should also seal up cracks in the walls (even cracks that look too small) that might give pests access.
R. W. West (a crawlspace company), however, cautions that “you want to make sure your crawl space still has enough ventilation to let it ‘breathe.’ Ventilation in the form of laminated water vapor barriers is excellent solutions for allowing crawl spaces to vent, while still keeping pests out.”
Install a Vapor Barrier
Installing a vapor barrier can help keep moisture out. They must be properly sealed and used in conjunction with dehumidifying techniques. We can help you install a vapor barrier to maintain your crawlspace.
Remove Debris
When people build or repair homes, they will sometimes leave unused material in the crawlspace. Out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, this debris can attract pests and make using your crawlspace more difficult. Let us help you clear your crawlspace.
There are a lot of ways to treat your crawlspace and a lot of things you have to do to keep it in good condition, but reducing the moisture in your crawlspace can improve the air quality in your home. Let us treat your crawlspace, saving you the time and hassle.