| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
Hey folks- it seems like the fixit list for the house just keeps on growing. Who here on the BW has experience dealing with a poor crawlspace under their house? I've been aware that it needs to be re-done for some time now, just not had the $$$ available to get it done. Frankly, it's pretty nasty. I've had to do quite a bit since the very beginning to fix this place up, as it seems I had human cockroaches living here prior to buying this house. What I'm envisioning is clearing/cleaning out, mold treatments, new vapor barrier and new ductwork. Good news is that my house isn't big, but I'm expecting a fairly substantial outlay of $$$. For the first time in years, I'm making good enough money to get ahead, instead of just getting by, but things like this take precedence... guess I'll keep at it and maybe get ahead next year. Anyway, who's got the downlow on all this? Holla. | ||
| Hootowl |
Not much experiences with crawl spaces, but I can tell you that if it's in your budget, look at sprayed in foam vs. fiberglass. Bugs and rats can get up in the batting and make nice little warm homes for themselves. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Depending on how humid it is where you are, what a lot of people are doing now is sealing the crawlspaces and installing dehumidifiers. Put down vapor barrier (visqueen or equivalent), tape all the seams. Insulate the perimeter of the foundation with foam blocks. Seal all the ventilation openings, and install a dehumidifier. Lots of info here: http://www.crawlspaces.org/ Another good idea is to install permanent lighting while you're in there, with a switch at the access to the crawlspace. That way you don't have to drag a flashlight or drop cord if/when you have to go under there to check/fix things. If you're putting in new ductwork, take the time to seal all the seams and joints properly with duct joint compound. Cutting down air leakage from the system can make a big difference in your utility bills. | ||
| Fahren |
Serv-pro is worth calling. They clean and dry things out well. How does the soil drain where you are? If not so well, then maybe a sand layer under the vapor barrier can keep water from pushing up too much against the underside of the vapor barrier. I like to seal the crawlspace vents in winter. There is no reason to bring in cold air under there - it makes any moisture in the air condense on any metal surfaces under there, and things get really wet that way. Open them up for summer, though, when you need to combat having cool, humid air under there as much as possible (again, for condensation prevention). If the groundwater is not really high where you are, and your soil drains well, then you may not need or want much more than a regular 6-mil plastic vapor barrier laid down, rolled and taped joints. Those sealed and up-the-walls solutions are for seriously wet ground; the moisture/mold issues you have may be solvable with the vent issues noted above, just keeping vapor from condensing into water under the house. Of course, you can also insulate and seal the crawl space and condition it. But that's a whole nuther kettle of worms, or can of fish. :-) | ||
| Fahren |
and what Hughlysses said. :-) I no type so quick... | ||
| Kenm123t |
Look Up Building Science Corp get the building guide for your area and climate.. its about $40 invaluable resource if you Have a Question Call Joe Lstibruk the author he will call you back it may take a few week but he will call | ||
| Hughlysses |
+1 on Joe Lstibruk. I attended a lecture by him a few years back. He's a mechanical engineer from Canada and knows his stuff about buildings and air conditioning, and he's a VERY entertaining speaker. He spends a lot of his time pointing out how many stupid things we do with buildings just because that's the way it's always been done. | ||
| Ratbuell |
A coworker is going through that for a house he's selling. Basically they pull out all the under-floor insulation and leave it out. Seal the ground and walls of the cellar with a solid sheet of perma-plastic, seal any and all vents, and encapsulate the whole cellar (making insulation obsolete). If you like, I'll see if he has a website for their materials - they had lots of nice brochures and tech publications they gave him, along with a sample of the sheeting. TOUGH stuff. | ||
| Kenm123t |
I have known Joe For years he is a trip Look Up Bailey Engineering Corp In Jupiter Fla Good friend with them Have a breakfast meeting with Ron in am Working on another job with his wife Get her book Micro Biological Contamination in Buildings I have worked on several buildings in the book | ||
| 86129squids |
Thanks for the advice, all... I'll be farming through bids here ASAP, once my deck/laundry room resto is finished, with any luck TODAY... Yes, it's taken around 2 months for that to be done, grrrr.... some may remember my thread way back then on that subject. That old adage about getting things done came back to me: You always wants 3 things when contracting out a project, Fast, Cheap, and Good... but you can only have 2. I got the Cheap and Good guy- as a result I'm calling this the Lost Summer of 2013. Thanks for that URL, Hugh- gotta get my research done now. Keep the $.02 coming, friends... | ||
| Ourdee |
First: Make sure you don't need a sump pump. | ||
| 86129squids |
Yeah, one good thing about the property is that I'm at the highest point on my street- everything else is downhill from me. | ||
| Teeps |
Until I had rain gutters installed with down spouts directing the water away from the foundation. My first house used to get almost a foot of water in the crawl space, when it rained. Install rain gutters and make sure the down spouts direct the water well away from the foundation. | ||
| Vtpeg |
I should have taken a picture on the job today. Heavy gauge vapor barrier, sealed at penetrations, run up walls. Spray foam on walls into rim joist, fire coated. | ||
| Blake |
Make life more interesting, dig a pond and put a gator in it. | ||
| Kenm123t |
Why Blake I just walk out to Lake Okeechobee its my back yard we have many 12 ft gators | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, but this way you can simply open the trap door, and throw solicitors into the pit. | ||
| 86129squids |
Finally got a guy coming out to do a bid on the work. FWIW, my house is pretty small, 2BR/1BA, LR and kitchen, around 1K square feet... Somehow I'm expecting a giant sucking sound from my bank account...  ... but it's gotta be done. | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, well, gator pits are expensive.  | ||
| 86129squids |
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