A Beautiful Home On Lake Norman Gets A Beautiful Crawlspace To Match

• Inspector: Tyler Gregg
• Customer: D. Rothwell

Problem:

Mr. Rothwell called concerned about his crawlspace and said he was considering getting it sealed. We sent Tyler out for the free inspection, and he discovered a dusting of yellow, white, and dark mold on many of the floor joists holding up the floor. He also saw some efflorescence on the wall. Finding both mold and efflorescence means there has been water under the house. Tyler also found the remains of a vapor barrier in the crawl space. It had wrinkled up and wasn’t covering most of the ground under the home.

Solution:

Tyler then presented a proposal to Mr. Rothwell to resolve all the issues in his crawl space. He accepted the proposal, and Lorissa reached out to him to schedule the work.

For this job, we sent out William's crew. Once onsite, they removed all the insulation under the home, removed the mold from the wood, and treated it with antimicrobial disinfectant. Next, they created a perimeter of gravel drains inside the crawlspace walls to combat water intrusion. Any water in the crawl space will travel the drains into the sump pump we installed. Then they lined the crawl space with 20 mil plastic to keep any moisture from coming up from the soil.

To control humidity in the summer, we installed an Aprilaire dehumidifier to draw out any moisture left in the crawl space. And since the house's footprint was so big, we added ducts to the dehumidifier's inflow and outflow, allowing it to cover the entire crawl space with dry air. Finally, we installed new electrical plug-ins for the sump pump, dehumidifier, and fresh insulation.