Problems with a Traditional Vented Crawlspace in Chester, MD
Challenge
Until recently the conventional wisdom in the construction industry was to ventilate a crawl space to the outside, to avoid build up of musty smells an nasty air underneath the home. But if you've even been underneath a home with a traditional ventilated crawl space, like this on in Chester, MD, you know very plainly - "IT STINKS"
All sorts of bad things happen over time in a ventilated crawl space. First off the humidity inside the dark crawl space begins to rise, because of moisture in the dirt floor, and in the air itself. That moisture begins to condense into water, which then saturates the insulation and wooden floor structures in the ceiling of the crawlspace. Eventually the insulation becomes soggy and falls away, leaving the floor deck above completely exposed to the ambient temperatures in the crawl space which are close to the outdoor temperature on any given day. In the spring and summer seasons the moist air soaks everything inside the crawl space.
And of course imagine, after the insulation falls away, what the floors feel like on those cold days in the winter. And with that UP goes the heating bill. In the summer it does the opposite, and UP goes the utility costs for air conditioning.
Damp soil floor, rotting bugs and animals, plant debris all provide the perfect environment for microbial and fungal growth. Eventually this rots away the floor joists and floor deck, a causes very expensive repair. And you can imagine the STENCH that eventually permeates the home. Who wants to live above a bog??? YUCK!
This is a LOSE-LOSE situation for the house and its occupants
Solution
Luckily there's an affordable solution - ENCAPSULATION
Look around Lawson Home Service's website for examples of crawl spaces that were converted from traditional ventilated crawl spaces, to sealed encapsulated crawl spaces. The encapsulation seals the crawl space and living spaces above it from soil gasses, moisture, protecting the wood structures, and making the floor deck warm and toasty in the wintertime. That's a WIN-WIN situation, for everyone but the evicted bugs, vermin, microbes that were living in the crawl space, and, of course, the utility companies.
