The old-fashioned crawl space vents used in Arkansas homes have turned into a housing epidemic since their first installation. Infamous for their rot, mold, and their energy-inefficiency, they have been unhappily viewed as a necessary evil in the home. However, they need not be the rotting, inefficient spaces they are.
Crawl Space Solutions of Arkansas has years of experience working in these below grade spaces, and we'd like to help you gain energy efficiency and increased health and comfort in your home though our crawl space solutions .
Two Problems with Traditional Crawl Spaces
At the heart of both problems with traditional crawl space construction is the crawl space vents . When they were first used in the early 1920s, it was thought that they would create a crosswind in the space to keep it free of mold and rot. However, what happens instead is that the air moves in through the vents and travels upwards through the house.
This stands to reason. When warm air moves upwards in a home of Arkansas' state and out through the upper levels, a vacuum is formed in the lower levels. Air from the bottom of the house- including from the crawl space- moves upwards to fill this space. And if there are crawl space vents , air from the vents will replace the air that moved upwards into the home.
Crawl Space Problem To start with, as the winter's cold settles in, freezing air flows into the home through the vents. As this cooled air is pulled through the crawl space , it affects everything in the space. All utilities in the space are influenced by these low temperatures- water heaters, hot water pipes, heating ducts, and the furnace will have to work harder and use more energy to do their job. The cool air makes for cold floorboards above, and as it seeps into the home, your heating kicks in to neutralize it.
The hot summer months have many problems of their own. While the crawl space air is no longer being cooled, the summer air now moving in is loaded with humidity. As it passes into the cool crawl space, the relative humidity of this new air rises dramatically. The natural temperature of the crawl space area is about 50 degrees, and the relative humidity of the air drops rises quickly as the temperature drops. The excess moisture is then deposited on all wood and organic material in the space in the form of condensation, the wood beams and floor boards become saturated with moisture.
This rot will soon lead to sagging floors, rot, mold, odors, allergens in the home, and possibly even a compromised house structure.
All too soon, this rot leads to mold, odors, allergens in the home, sagging floors and a potentially compromised home structure. And if the crawl space has rotted away, finding a contractor willing to go into the cramped crawl space, tear out the moldy, rotten wood, and install new boards underneath the home is no easy task. What a wasteful, expensive project! And hiring a contractor who's willing to crawl under your home to rip out moldy, rotting wood and replace it with new boards is no easy task. However, this is not the way it must be.
