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Moisture Control in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky
Rotting, Moldy Crawl Spaces in Evansville, IN and Owensboro, KY
When crawl spaces in Indiana grow rot, mold, and mildew, it leads to significant damage to the space. Unfortunately, there are many contractors and crawl space repair professionals who are still embracing old, outdated methods of crawl space repair. These practices, while still widely used, are doomed to failure, and they often make the problem even worse than it originally was! Swat Pest Management has seen hundreds of suffering crawl spaces, and they would like to provide you with a free crawl space quote in Owensboro, Evansville, and all nearby areas of IN and KY to get your problem under control.
Here are just two examples of doomed dry crawl space building practices:
Crawl Space Insulation in Evansville, IN and Owensboro, KY
Crawl space insulation is designed in an attempt to seperate the home from the cold air that flows into the crawl space in the winter as well as the cold emenating from the crawl space walls and floor in Indiana. However, warm air rises, not cold, right? So why would cold air from the crawl space enter the home?
The answer is simple: because warm air rises. In your home, warm air is constantly rising upwards, eventually leaving the house through the attice, upper floors, and roof. As this happens, it creates a vacuum in the floors below, which pulls the air in the house upwards. As much as 50% of this air that's pulled upwards can come from the basement or crawl space.
In this respect, crawl space insulation works- it helps the home stay warmer in the winter provided that the insulation is dry, mold-free, and attached in an unbroken sheet on the crawl space ceiling. However, crawl space insulation in Henderson, KY and other areas in KY and IN is doomed to fail in a vented crawl space. Because crawl space air is pulled upwards into the home in the winter, it will also be pulled upwards in the summer.
As hot, humid summer air moves into the space and is cooled, its relative humidity rises dramatically. And as this air is pulled upwards, it will deposit the excess moisture anywhere it can, including on the Kentyucky or Indiana crawl space insulation, which contains paper, dyes, and organic resins. These organic materials will grow mold, and as the moisture and mold weigh down the material, it will drip down on to the crawl space floor. The mold will release thousands of spores into the air, which are then carried upwards into the home.
When winter returns, the insulation will no longer be useful. What insulation isn't laying on the floor will be moldy, wet, and ineffective. Your installation will be wasted, and until the insulation is removed (an expensive job, considering it's moldy and disgusting), your home will be exposed to an increase in mold spores.
"On humid days, you're venting your crawl space with humid air. On cold days, you're venting it with cold air. On wet, rainy days, you're venting it with wet air. Does this make sense?"
Crawl Space Vents in Owensboro, Kentucky
Or course, the largest reason that crawl space insulation fails is because the crawl space itself is vented. Allowing air into the crawl space is always a bad idea: in the winter, cold air rushes in and cools floorboards as well as hot water pipes, heating ducts, furnaces, water heaters, and other utilities, leading to higher heating costs. In the summer, they pave the way for mold, rot, and mildew. Additionally, as humid air rises into the home, it adds to the burden on home air conditioning systems, as humid air is much more difficult to cool than dry air.
Crawl space vents also provide an access point for outside influences. These include rainwater, termites, ants, spiders, snakes, beetles, mice, rats, and any other variety of pest or unwanted guest that you can imagine in your Evansville or Owensboro crawl space. Rotting wood is an open invitation to dinner for wood-eating insects, and they'll be more than happy to live (and die) in your crawl space.
Proper Crawl Space Building Practices for Indiana Homeowners
We can't emphasize this enough: Seal off the crawl space vents, install an airtight crawl space door, and install a durable crawl space moisture barrier on the walls and floor. Stop unconditioned air and moisture from entering the crawl space from the outside, use a crawl space dehumidifier, and be sure to eliminate all sources of standing water with a crawl space sump pump. The barrier will act as a passive barrier to animals, insects, and radon gas alike, and your home will become a healthier, more energy efficient space. If you'd like a free crawl space encapsulation estimate in Indiana, call or contact us today!
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