Crawl Space Ventilation – Vent Sealing

Since the house breathes from the bottom up, the last thing you want is to leave openings for outside air to come in and allow dirty air from the crawl space to enter your home and cause your family to breathe in dirt and mold particles, and cause allergy symptoms and other health issues. Crawl space vents are not the answer! They’re meant to dry out crawl spaces through the use of outside air but unfortunately, they cause damage to your home instead. In order to prevent potential health issues, mold, mildew, odors and other damage, you should have your crawl space vents sealed off! By doing so, the sealed vents will help keep outside air and other elements such as insects, overly hot or cold temperatures, and moisture out. Our vent covers are mechanically attached to form an airtight bond and they are fast and simple to install.

Vented Crawl Spaces are Trouble!

Construction workers have always favored crawl spaces because they’re faster and less expensive to build than a full-blown basement foundation. This type of traditional crawl space utilizes openings or air vents in the crawl space walls so that the air outside can circulate underneath your living space.

If there is any insulation installed, you may find it in the form of fiberglass batts, placed between crawl space joists, while the crawl space’s floor will be made of soil, or concrete. The fiberglass insulation easily absorbs moisture and may sag or fall out of place, settling onto the crawl space floor. In winter, there’s a new set of problems: the floors become too cold because of the wet and missing insulation, meaning higher heating bills.

During the summer, warm and moist air can enter the crawl space, condensing on the cooler crawl space surface. When the crawl space continuously receives this warm air, it can cause moisture to form, which invites mold to grow and causes wood to rot.

The presence of wet wood can also attract insects such as termites and carpenter ants, who want nothing more than to chew up the wood and terrorize your home.

One factor that isn’t determined by season is the indoor air pollution that can cause respiratory problems, because of the mold spores that enter the living space through the cracks and gaps in the walls and floors of the crawl space.

Crawl Space Waterproofing

The best way to deal with a wet crawl space is to make sure to waterproof your crawl space before it gets to that point, and we can help out with that by using high-quality and top-rated products coupled with professional techniques to successfully reduce moisture and groundwater. Without crawl space waterproofing, your crawl space remains vulnerable to surface water.

A reliable sump pump system paired with the CrawlShield™ Encapsulation System will remove and prevent any water and moisture found in your crawl space. Our GrateSump™ Sump Pump System is fully equipped with a sump pump and liner, alarm, floor drain and it can also include an additional battery backup system.

The GrateSump™ also has an airtight lid that helps to keep the liner in place and the alarm will alert you, should any water from a plumbing leak or any other kind of leak reach the sump pump system.

Just having a liner won’t cut it and crawl spaces can remain wet for months before a homeowner may notice, but with the GrateSump™ installed, you won’t have to worry about a thing and your sump pump does all the work by protecting your crawl space. Our GrateSump™ Sump Pump Systems are also fully compatible with our CrawlShield™ Encapsulation System to ensure that your crawl space is always protected.