Causes Of Mold In Your Crawlspace
Vapor Barrier
There can be many causes of mold in your crawlspace.
The lack of a vapor barrier covering the surface of your crawlspace can be a main cause of mold. Vapor barriers play a very major role in your crawlspace. Vapor barriers are designed to keep the moisture of the ground from reaching the joists and subfloor.
Other Causes
More causes of mold can be wet insulation/failing insulation and leaks from plumbing.
Any type of moisture being obtained from insulation and or a leak is a breeding ground for mold.
Standing Water on Your Vapor Barrier
Standing water on top of your vapor barrier is a easy way for mold to grow in your crawl space.
Standing water will dramatically increase the humidity in your crawl space leading to mold growth. There is many ways to prevent water on the vapor barrier, but every house is different so choosing what is right for you can be difficult.
But don't worry we are here to help.
Lack of Humidity Control
Mold will grow in a crawl space when it reaches a relative humidity of 60-65%. The number one thing mold needs to grow is high humidity in the air.
Not having any form of humidity control can be a major cause of mold growth in a crawl space.
Solutions To Your Crawlspace
Vapor Barrier
Proper installation of a vapor barrier is a great start to controlling humidity in a crawl space.
We provide a nice green 15Mil thick vapor barrier to all of our jobs. This along with sealing your vapor barrier a foot up your foundation walls will not only help seal your crawlspace from the ground but will also add extra protection from the vapor barrier shifting or moving around from future work in the crawlspace.
Our Mold Solution
At Alabama Mold Pros, we do not use bleach/sand blast or any other harmful chemicals to remediate mold.
Instead, we use a enzyme base product called Cal-Brite. We will pretreat your joists by spraying this chemical and letting it sit for a minimum of 15 minutes. Whilst the chemical is soaking into the joists pulling the mold from the inside out it will foam up letting us know that our chemical is working.
Afterwards we use microfiber rags with a mixture of water and Cal-Brite and handwipe all wood surfaces in the crawlspace. Not only does our chemical start working immediately but it will also continue working for up to 72 hours after we have left. This is the true way of mold remediation.
Humidity Control
We are proud to use the Humidex system a company out of Canada to provide you with your humidity control needs.
Unlike dehumidifiers this product does not involve any type of water dispensing. Instead, it is a two-part system the main unit gathers the humid air and dispenses it out of your crawlspace. The second part, the booster unit connects to one of the floor vents in your house to pull conditioned/dehumidified air from inside the house and push it under the crawlspace.
Our main goal is to get an even amount of air movement in the crawlspace. If the crawlspace has any dead zones, we will add additional fans to assure air movement in those areas if needed.
Our Solutions to Standing Water
Alot of standing water issues can be solved with adding gravel in the low spots of a crawl space allowing the vapor barrier to sit above the level of the water. This is important to ensure that no moisture gets above the vapor barrier leading to high levels of humidity.