American Crawlspace Solutions specializes in Crawlspace Encapsulation. A sealed crawlspace is a more energy-efficient alternative to the traditional wall-vented crawlspace. Other benefits of crawlspace encapsulation include improved indoor air quality, increased home value and appeal, energy efficiency, increased home value, and humidity control.
If your home was constructed on a crawlspace, chances are you have open foundation vents in the walls of your homes foundation. Despite what you may have heard, instead of allowing humid air to leave the crawlspace, the vents instead allow the warm exterior air to enter to your crawlspace. This leads to excess moisture beneath your home which leads, in turn, to fungus and musty odors in the crawlspace. Crawlspace vents should always be closed in order to prevent unwanted humid air. Dirt crawlspaces should also be covered with a proper vapor barrier installed on the floor and exterior walls. This is called Crawlspace Encapsulation. An encapsulated crawlspace will perpetually deflect humidity, leading to a healthier and more energy efficient home.
Common problem with a damp crawlspace:
- Water standing around the footing of the home
- Uneven or sloping floors on the lower floor your home
- Musty scents coming from below your home
- Unexplained health problems
- Insects and pests are colonizing the crawlspace
Crawl Space Moisture Solutions
To further assist with high humidity in the crawl space, we can also provide an automated dehumidifier system to remove extra moisture from the air. Dehumidifiers are a simple and reliable solution. By removing excess moisture, mold will not be able to grow beneath your home. A moisture-free crawlspace is a healthy crawlspace.
Our goal is to provide you with the most prompt and professional foundation repair services available in our service area. Please contact us today for a free assessment and written repair estimate.
When your home’s crawlspace or basement has experienced issues with moisture. Water and humidity will contribute to rotting wooden structures, including wooden support beams and floor joists. We always remind our valued customers that those wooden supports and floor joists partially support the weight of your house. When the joists begin to loose stability, you may notice unlevel floors and unlevel rooms. Furthermore, humidity present in a basement or crawlspace will create an environment suitable for the development of mold and mildew, which are widely known to to be to blame for a variety of health-related issues.
Musty Odors
Musty odors inside a home are indicative of a mold or mildew problem in the crawl space in your basement. Black mold is a fungi which are perfectly adapted to grow and spread in environments which have excessive moisture, humidity, and organic items for the fungus to feed and grow on. If your home’s basement or crawlspace was not originally properly outfitted to divert moisture in the soil, then your house might experience the growth of mold and mildew.
Mold is a fungus which lives on the surface of wooden supports and floor joists in your crawl space or basement. As mold grows, it puts spores into the air. Mold spores float into your home’s air. Engineers indicate that fully half of the air in your home originates from the space beneath it. Thus it is vitally important to address the issues in a timely manner as the fungus is widely known to bring about health problems including respiratory and asthma issues, skin rashes and eye irritation, fatigue and headaches.
Below are the warning signs of water and humidity in your crawl space:
- Rotten wood joists
- Uneven floors
- The appearance of cracks in the interior drywall
- Sticky windows and doors
- Standing water in the basement or crawlspace
How To Fix Humidity Problems in Your Crawl Space
The knowledgeable and dedicated professionals at American Crawlspace Solutions offer homeowners in Porterdale a free, no-obligation structural assessment and repair estimate at no charge. Please call us to schedule an appointment. Your satisfaction is our #1 goal.
Flooded Crawl Space
If not water-proofed, your home’s basement and crawl space can flood during periods of excessive precipitation. Once water finds its way inside your basement, it can quickly cause the wooden elements of your home’s structure, making them warp and rot. This is singularly important in the case of support beams and floor joists that hold up the mass of your house. Damaged supports and joists greatly lower your home’s stability and future re-sale value.
Additionally, a water-logged crawl space is the perfect environment for dangerous mold and mildew which live in damp, dark environments. This dangerous fungus is known by medical professionals to cause any number of health problems including respiratory problems, flu-like symptoms, and skin rashes. Rotting wood combined with moisture and humidity also creates an advantageous environment for unwanted pests such as termites, roaches, snakes, spiders and rats.
How To Fix Crawl Space Flooding
If your water issues occur during periods of heavy rain, we will install a basement drain system. Whenever rain flows into your basement or crawlspace, it our drain system. Once inside, the water is diverted into a sump pump which will ultimately pump the water out and away from the home. Further, to help mitigate again mold growth and musty odors, we can easily control moisture levels in your basement with an automated dehumidifier system. A dry crawl space is a healthy crawl space.
Please don’t let your foundation problems linger. Call us today and our friendly, professional estimators will provide you with a prompt assessment of your foundation’s issues and a written repair estimate.
Uneven, Sagging Floors
You may notice that the first floor of your home has un-even floors that appear to be sagging. If so, there is every reason to believe your home is damaged by an excessive moisture problem in your home’s basement. If the crawl space beneath the your house hasn’t been sealed off or waterproofed, then water seepage will easily get inside your foundation and manifest a number of problems. Water collecting below your house may result in wooden structural elements experiencing rot, decay, and warping. This type of damage will cause the beams and floor boards of your home to become weak. Ultimately, the decaying boards will have trouble maintaining the enormous weight of the structure, which will cause sagging, uneven floors.
Excess moisture under your home: the warning signs:
- Stagnant pools of water lying against the footing
- Living areas smell musty or moldy
- Rotting wood or structures
- The presence of termites, roaches, and other pests
Sinking and Sagging Floors: How to Fix Them
To fix your home properly, we have two problems to fix. First, we will install jacks and supports to stabilize the floor boards, level your floors, and prevent additional sinking. Secondly, we need to address any water and how it is entering your home. We will likely install which will divert water into a sump pump and away from your home’s foundation.
You can protect the value and future sale of your home by quickly addressing and repairing any current foundation and basement issues. Our goal is to provide you with the most prompt and professional foundation repair services available in our service area. We will treat your home with respect and work on your foundation as if we were fixing our own home. Everything we do is licensed, insured and guaranteed.