What You Don’t Know About Your Crawl Space

Your crawl space is something most people don’t think about, but when ignored, it can become a major problem. Crawl spaces generally have very high humidity, which is open season for mold and other microbial infestations. Mold needs the same things we do to grow: food and water. Its food is the wood around your crawl space, and its water is contained within the humidity in the air.

Let's take a deeper look into common crawl space problems and potential solutions!

Bulk Water

Standing water in your crawl space is a huge no no. Builders sometimes ignore crawl spaces because they are not used frequently, but you can’t afford make that mistake. If a crawl space is not water-proofed, any kind of drainage problem or leak could lead to disaster.

Moisture Evaporation

Soil evaporation can also be a significant source of crawlspace moisture. In areas where the water table is only slightly below ground level, this is a particularly big problem. In these types of areas, the ground can evaporate up to 12 gallons of water a day.

Outdoor Air

Some people think that bringing in air from the outside will help alleviate the moisture problems in your crawl space, but this isn’t always the case. When you bring in air through the use of vents, you are actually increasing the relative humidity in your crawl space. Cold air can not hold as much moisture as warm air, so when you bring hot summer air into a colder environment (like your crawl space), it increases the humidity. This is bad news for you because as we know, mold and bacteria love humidity!

The Solution

There are a few things you can do to alleviate your crawl space moisture problems; the first is properly maintaining your plumbing. Drainage leaks lead to severe water damage that can permanently derail a crawl space. To solve the evaporation problem, you should equip your crawl space with a professionally-installed vapor barrier. This thin sheet of high-density polyethylene keeps groundwater in the ground and out of your home.

If you live on Long Island, trust GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration to help you with all of your crawl space problem. We offer vapor barrier installations, mold removal, and crawl space cleaning services to homes across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Call us today for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.