Coach McGuirk Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 It has been one of those really wet summers so the crawl space is just accumulating water underneath due to the crawl space being below the dew point. The two houses I'm selling have ponds of water condensation underneath to crawl space even with a vapor barrier. They call this "Jungle Dew Point" when it's constantly in the 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterWxLuvr Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 It has been one of those really wet summers so the crawl space is just accumulating water underneath due to the crawl space being below the dew point. The two houses I'm selling have ponds of water condensation underneath to crawl space even with a vapor barrier. They call this "Jungle Dew Point" when it's constantly in the 70s. Houses with a crawl space need a fan blowing out through a vent from about May through Sept. Prevents a ton of problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Make sure the vents are open. I've run into that problem before where people will close off the vents in the winter in the misguided attempt to save on heating, then they will forget and leave the vents closed. Asking for mold in the crawl by doing so. I've actually seen subfloor and joist rot due to the buildup of moisture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach McGuirk Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Yeah, I'm running the fans now. All the vents were open for the summer so I didn't think we'd have that problem until I went down in there. I've been talking to other people and this has been a big issue this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach McGuirk Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 I just noticed that the front crawl space is a little lower than the surroundings which is creating flooding during heavy rain events. If it's not one thing, it's another. I need to install gutters with long downspouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Make sure the vents are open. I've run into that problem before where people will close off the vents in the winter in the misguided attempt to save on heating, then they will forget and leave the vents closed. Asking for mold in the crawl by doing so. I've actually seen subfloor and joist rot due to the buildup of moisture. CLOSE the vents. Seal it up tight. Put a vapor barrier down and seal up the crawl space. Unless you have built your house on a swamp, you will have no issues with moisture. " Ventilating" a crawlspace in a region with the insanely high dew points we have in summer is exactly the wrong thing to do. Built my house in '04 and my crawlspace has been sealed ever since... with no dehumidifier, it stays cool and dry. And I am on the eastern shore, where the mean water table is HIGH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw baltimore wx Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 CLOSE the vents. Seal it up tight. Put a vapor barrier down and seal up the crawl space. Unless you have built your house on a swamp, you will have no issues with moisture. " Ventilating" a crawlspace in a region with the insanely high dew points we have in summer is exactly the wrong thing to do. Built my house in '04 and my crawlspace has been sealed ever since... with no dehumidifier, it stays cool and dry. And I am on the eastern shore, where the mean water table is HIGH. Yeah, I think new codes in this area are supportive of no vents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterWxLuvr Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 CLOSE the vents. Seal it up tight. Put a vapor barrier down and seal up the crawl space. Unless you have built your house on a swamp, you will have no issues with moisture. " Ventilating" a crawlspace in a region with the insanely high dew points we have in summer is exactly the wrong thing to do. Built my house in '04 and my crawlspace has been sealed ever since... with no dehumidifier, it stays cool and dry. And I am on the eastern shore, where the mean water table is HIGH. Thanks for posting this. After reading your post, I did a little research and found that the latest thinking is that ventilating a crawl space is not the way to go. Makes sense to me. One thing I would say is that there needs to be a good slope away from the house outside and all water, especially gutters, should be diverted well away from the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Thanks for posting this. After reading your post, I did a little research and found that the latest thinking is that ventilating a crawl space is not the way to go. Makes sense to me. One thing I would say is that there needs to be a good slope away from the house outside and all water, especially gutters, should be diverted well away from the house. No problem...and yes, cross ventilation seemed counter intuitive to me(why let the warm humid air in there!), and I had a ton of condensation off the ducts from the HVAC indoor unit(located in the crawlspace) running the AC during that summer as I finishing the inside of the house. So what I did is actually sealed the vents from inside the crawlspace. I cut pieces of rigid foam insulation to size for each of the vent openings and then sealed it using aluminum self adhesive flashing tape(it sticks to the cinder block pretty well). Code requires a vapor barrier, and if you have an older home without it, then definitely put it in. You have to keep the moisture from the soil isolated from the crawlspace, especially if you are going to close and seal the vents. And yes check your grade and make sure you have good drainage outward from the foundation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach McGuirk Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 I put in fans and kept the vents open. 99% of the water is gone after a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.