Crawl Space Services

What are the solutions to getting a crawl space back to a healthy environment?

Mold and Mildew Solutions LLC has several options to help you.

• Mold Inspection in Crawl Space
• Mold Prevention Products for Crawl Space with Warranties and Guarantees
• Pre- and Post-Remediation/ Removal Verification Testing
• Vapor Barriers and Retardant Liners
• Annual Maintenance Plans Available
• Permanent, Professional Installed Dehumidification Units
• Drainage Options

Mold in the crawl space?

What most do not realize is that there is reason to be concerned about those seldom-thought-of areas below the home in the crawl space. Up to 40 percent of the air we breathe on the first floor of our property comes from the crawl space.

Crawl spaces do not have to have been flooded or have an obvious water intrusion to provide an unhealthy environment.

Crawl space areas are more commonly made with dirt walls and floors, and also you’ll see concrete blocks - concrete and dirt spaces with a never-ending source of moisture. Even if the dirt's surface seems dry, digging down a few inches reveals moist earth. The dirt and soil emit high humidity, which turns into water vapor. Air flow and water vapor naturally flow from bottom to top. This upward air movement is called the "stack effect". This replacement air is made up with unconditioned outside air. Outside air could enter through crawl space doors, hatches, crawl space vents, outside pipe penetrations, porous concrete walls, cores of blocks, gaps and holes.

Consequently, whatever is in the air of the crawl space eventually flows up into the living sections. This means that all the moist air, humidity, airborne mold spores and odors are coming right into your breathing space.

If you experience one or more of these, you may have crawl space issues:

• cold floors
• drafts
• uncomfortable humidity levels
• stale odors
• rotting sills and joists
• sticking doors sticking windows
• buckling hardwood floors

By having services performed by Mold & Mildew Solutions LLC, you can obtain improvements of the quality of air and air flow throughout the crawl space and inside the property.

Will it really matter if I do or do not take care of my moisture and mold issues in my crawl space?

Yes it does matter. There are several reasons to be concerned about the health of your crawl space. Let’s look at the crawlspace in a scientific manner.

Mold spores floating into your breathing space can lead to respiratory illness and allergic reactions. Even if originally not affected by mold, living in such an environment can cause future health problems for some people.

Crawl space issues can cause internal building damage

Mold spores and excess humidity inside your living space can cause secondary damage inside the property. These types of issues can also cause mold issues inside the house by first targeting the floor system directly above the crawl space, which in turn would cause an environment for mold to grow under the carpet or flooring on the first level of the building and inside wall cavities. This is a large issue because you may not notice there is a problem until considerable damage has already been done.

Musty Odors

Not only is a musty odor emitting from the outside of your property and noticeable inside the property, even bigger than this embarrassment is that a musty or noxious odor is a sign that mold is growing. This distinctive odor means that mold is feeding off of organic materials.

(You cannot sell a property with a moldy smell.)

Structural damage due to crawl space issues

Mold damage over time can cause structural damage to wood framing and the structure of the building.

Insects and critters are attracted to a moist environment. Crawl spaces are a wonderful place for bugs and rodents to play, find shelter, food, and a burial plot. Termites favor moist environments also, which adds further possibility for structural integrity issues. Everything has to eat right…?

Energy Cost

Energy costs are higher with unconditioned and damp air in the crawl space. Damp air uses more energy to heat and cool. Factors that contribute to this are

• air duct leakage,
• open vents, gaping spaces
• bad use of insulation or improper installment.

Air ducts causing unconditioned crawl space air

Many times, supply air ducts run underneath the house in the crawl space. Between the seams and sections of the bends, also called elbows, you lose conditioned air through loose joints. (FYI, that’s two percent per joint. The average home loses 300 cubic feet per minute.) Depending on the season, this conditioned air may be warm air or cool air. When there is a considerable amount of duct leakage, this causes depressurizing from the living space above and forces pressured air into the crawl space. This pushes mold spores and damp, musty air in to the living space faster. Return ducts, also in the crawl space, suck air from inside the living space, then run back through the leaking ducts. Leaky return ducts suck in bad air from the crawl space and go directly into your air system.

In the summer time, warm, humid air enters the crawl space. The quantity of humid air will come through open spaces in doorways and open vents. When your air conditioner is cooling, the warm humid air creates condensation on the outside ducts. Since water is a conductor, the now wet duct is warming the air that you are “paying” to cool. If the ducts have been saturated due to condensation, this can cause problems for the property all year round.

In the winter time, cold air is entering into the crawl space. This means that the air ducts in the crawl space are cold, on the outside and the inside. Now the air you are “paying” to heat is now being cooled down by cold ducts. This cold air is also cooling your floors upstairs, which is not very pleasant.

Video link about how duct work gets dirty http://www.nadca.com/residential/videos

Video link about saving on energy cost http://www.nadca.com/residential/videos

(Keep reading to see our CleanSpace® Crawl Space Encapsulation System® that will turn this lost air into useful air)

Improper use of insulation in a crawl space

Some houses have insulation on the ceiling of the crawl space. This is an improper use of insulation. Fiberglass insulation has a loose nature, air flows right through it. This material works best when it is in a closed cavity, which is hard to accomplish with all the corners and nooks and crannies in a crawl space.

With just a bit of dampness, insulation can lose a lot of its insulating values. The issue with paper-faced insulation is moisture. When the paper backing is wet, molds can completely disintegrate the organic materials, causing the insulation to droop and/or fall down.

Insulation with a foil face is manufactured to be a radiant barrier. The manufacturer instructions are to have the foil side face the heated side (the ceiling of the crawlspace). For this to work, you must have a half inch air space in between the ceiling and the foil, which would ignore the rule to have insulation installed in a closed cavity. If foil insulation was installed to this specification in the crawl space, it causes air flow on both sides of the insulation which would make the insulation useless. (Not all insulation in a crawlspace is bad, for example wall boards that meet building code.)

(see our CleanSpace® encapsulation system that will replace the need to have insulation in your crawl space)

Mold & Mildew Solutions LLC follows Clean Trust, formally known as IICRC, standards, which are the industry gold standards for this business.

IICRC S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation - 8/2008
The S520 is a procedural standard and reference guide for the remediation of mold-damaged structures and contents. The S520 is based on reliable remediation and restoration principles, research and practical experience, and attempts to combine essential academic principles with practical elements of water damage restoration for technicians facing "real-life" mold remediation challenges. The S520 is written for use by those involved in the mold remediation industry, and is the result of collaboration among microbiologists and other scientists, public health professionals, industrial hygienists, remediation contractors, restoration service companies, cleaning and restoration training schools, trade associations that service the professional restoration industry, allied trade-persons, and others with related professional and practical experience. Crawl spaces do not have to have been flooded or have an obvious water intrusion to provide an unhealthy environment.

Crawl space mold removal remediation guidelines

• Full assessment before the scheduling of the project.
• Water proofing or foundation, landscaping and external issues, plumbing leaks fixed, and all moisture issues stopped and controlled.
• Sealing off the upstairs living areas from the work areas underneath. By closing any air gaps with expandable foam and duct tape in subfloor, sealing off the access door with plastic, and covering inside vents to prevent the stirred up contaminants from going upstairs.

This is remediation usually used in this type of contamination based on the IICRC S-520 Standards for the crawl space

• Turn off the HVAC. The HVAC cannot run during the remediation.
• A Negative air environment is produced (Vacuum) to also not allow the airborne contaminants from wafting upstairs.
• Debris is removed.
• Pre-HEPA vacuuming is done on affected areas, including two (2) feet extra in all directions.
• Hand sanding or wire brushing is done if needed.
• Abrasive soda blasting is used when large amounts of surfaces are involved.
• More detailed HEPA vacuuming is done again.
• The wood is cleaned by hand as needed.
• The exterior of duct work and pipes are vacuumed and cleaned as needed.
• The interior of duct work may need to be cleaned before returning to use.
• Final HEPA cleaning.
• Anti-microbial is applied if specified or requested.
• HVACs personnel come in to do their jobs
• Clearance testing is performed by IEP if requested
• An encapsulate (mold preventive coating) is applied if desired or specified

Media blasting with soda

Media blasting refers to the use of a substance propelled at high speeds against a surface in an attempt to remove a portion of that surface. Mold remediation utilizes Arm and Hammer Baking Soda® to blast mold and fungus, and its root system, off structures, for example wood framing, floor joist, band joist, bracing, and sills in the crawl space, or contaminated framing in a vacant house. Think of it as a light sanding process. The baking soda has so many advantages, you don’t have to worry about caustic fumes or disposal issues, and it naturally has deodorizing properties.

Using a patented system, Mold & Mildew Solutions LLC has brought down the cost, time, and aggravation. Not only that, but the final results are far superior. In a severe case of crawl space mold, imagine how much surface area there is of wood in the confined space; not only do you have the footprint square footage, it could take hundreds of very had, boring man hours to hand vacuum, clean and sand thousands of square feet of wood.