Crawl Space Dehumidification in Rock Hall, MD
Challenge
This Rock Hall, MD homeowner was not happy about the funky smells infiltrating his home from the crawlspace beneath it. Unlike many homes we find with dirt-floor crawlspaces, this one had a cement floor and the insulation was located on the foundation walls. So where is the musty smell coming from? Read on.
Just like basement floors often flood, this crawlspace showed obvious signs there had been standing water at times. Moisture allows the growth of mold that is responsible for the "musty" odor often found in damp basements and crawlspaces. The inspector took close up pictures showing the formation of mold on the surfaces of the HVAC ductwork running in the crawlspace. HVAC ductwork is notoriously leaky and mold was growing all over it. The mold was getting sucked into the HVAC ductwork and blown all throughout the house. No wonder it smelled funky in this home. Worse yet, in the fall and winter the mold dries out and begins to shed spores into the air. This can result in seasonal allergies and even asthma for occupants. It is especially dangerous for those who are naturally more sensitive to it, including young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.
Solution
The solution is simple: Mold must have water to grow and multiply. If we stop the intrusion of moisture into the crawlspace the mold will dry up and die. There are two basic components in the solution: encapsulate the crawlspace by installing a Clean Space™ vapor/water barrier above the cement floor; and install a Sedona SaniDry™ crawlspace dehumidifier.
Stopping the mold isn't the only thing we needed to do here. Since the mold was already inside the ductwork it had to be removed. This is accomplished with Lawson Home Services' Platinum Duct Cleaning Service.
