Mold and Musty crawl spaces can be dangerous to your health and can impact homeowners in Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
A residential crawl space that isn’t properly ventilated or taken care of can attract a lot of mold spores, fungus, decay, bugs, mold, mildew and rodents. Rodents are attracted to the warm and moist conditions of the crawl space and start calling the new area their home. This also means that your family is breathing in this moist, humid air that probably contains many mold spores. Mold spores can cause serious health problems for your family, especially if they have chronic breathing conditions such as asthma. Crawl space musty odors can also trigger many allergies and severe respiratory infections.
An unventilated and moisture-filled crawl space can also cause you to have high heating costs each month. A crawl space without ventilation can take away all the warmth in the summer and the cooling effect in winter with uncomfortable humidity levels.
Condensation
Moisture in your home’s crawl space can come from three sources: condensation from the air, water seepage through foundation walls, and leaks from plumbing pipes.
You may be wondering what’s so bad about crawl space moisture. There’s actually a lot that is bad about crawl space moisture. High amounts of moisture in a crawl space allows for the destruction of wood by fungi, insects, and rot. Crawl space moisture can also lead to the growth of black mold and mildew. When you have mold in your crawl space, it means that you also have poor indoor air quality. Mold spores are released into the air and this is what you breathe in. Mold can cause respiratory problems for individuals with pre-existing chronic breathing conditions such as asthma.
Dry rot requires high moisture levels in the area to occur. Sometimes, it’s possible that you don’t even notice the dry rot occurring in your crawl space area. All of the floor joists will appear to be fine. However, inside of the wood, rotting is beginning to occur.
Sagging Floors
Often times, homeowners tend to ignore their sagging floor issues and consider it a characteristic of just owning an older home.
Sagging or sloping floors in your home can be due to:
Inadequate or failing support beams
Inadequate foundation installation
Dry rot
Water seepage
Poor soil compaction
Improper landscape drainage
Excess moisture pooling around the foundation
Foundation cracks
Deteriorating wood support structures
Improperly installed floor joists
Improper installation of the floor itself
Water in Crawl Space
Crawl space standing water may lead to a wide assortment of structural problems and even health concerns for your loved ones. Excess humidity in your crawl space will form due to the evaporation of stagnant water in your home’s crawl space. This standing water may also act as a breeding ground for mold and mildew growth.
Water in crawl spaces can also cause water damage, warping, or even buckling of the sub-flooring of your greatest investment–your home. This typically occurs near the area where your home’s floors and walls come together. Naturally, all of these crawl space moisture issues can potentially create unhealthy indoor air quality and living conditions for your family.
Standing water in your crawl space can compromise your home’s structural integrity over time if you leave it untreated. After years, this may even make your home beyond normal repair.
Foundation Cracks
Crawl space problems can sometimes be caused from foundation cracks or poorly installed foundations, especially in soil which contains clay materials. The dirt floor of a crawlspace can become infiltrated with moisture if the area hasn’t been set up with a vapor barrier or encapsulation system. Serious moisture problems can result and this means that your foundation walls will be subject to a lot of moisture which it may not be used to. This moisture can cause foundation cracks which may be small at first, but if left untreated may grow into larger cracks where water can easily get in. With more water entering the crawl space area, the damage begins to spiral out of control. Here are some tips on how to remove musty odors after water damage.
If you have utility components in your wet crawlspace with foundation cracks, corrosion may begin forming on the pipes, fittings, valves, and any various metal parts which are exposed in the crawl space.
Wood Rot
Some of the residences built on Vancouver Island are built without a concrete slab beneath them have a dirt floor. Crawl spaces without proper ventilation and a dirt floor are susceptible to wood rot or dry rot.
A dirt crawl space floor is part of nature, and unfortunately can be quickly affected by the outside weather conditions at your home by things such as: rain fall, snow fall, heat, cold air, and moisture. Most of the time, moisture from the dirt can and will eventually cause rot to the sill plates, floor joists and girders underneath your house.
What is Wood Rot?
Wood rot is able to develop from a tiny organism which is in relation to the fungi group. Fungi tend to grow and reproduce easily when there’s the right amount of moisture, oxygen, humidity, and “food.”
Mold
A crawl space that isn’t properly ventilated will typically have a moisture problem. Over time, this moisture can act as a breeding ground for the development of dangerous mold.
Why Mold is a Problem
Crawl space mold can become a severe and dangerous problem for a homeowner because it can create unhealthy indoor air for your home and its inhabitants. Your crawl space can become very moist due to outdoor air conditions, soil conditions (clay soils), and plumbing leaks. With excessive crawl space moisture, mold will be taking over the space with a vengeance. Crawl space mold can be damaging to your home’s structure, your flooring, and anything else located in the area. Mold feeds on organic materials, such as wood, and when it’s damp it provides the perfect environment for growth.
If you believe you have a moldy crawl space, you need to know that it will eventually spread into the rest of your family’s home. Research shows that nearly half of the air you breathe in your home comes from the space beneath it (your crawl space). This means that the air you breathe may be infiltrated with mold spores. Mold can cause headaches, fatigue, flu-like symptoms, fevers, breathing problems, and a wide range of other health issues.
How Can You Neutralize Mold In Your Crawl, Attic, Home or Vehicle?
We neutralize your mold by applying our eco-friendly, safe chemical into your attic, crawlspace, or basement. Depending on the job, we apply our formula by spray, mist, foam, or fog. We do not use a tent. The average time of our on-site service is approximately one hour. An additional four hours is required to achieve maximum effectiveness. We ask that you stay out of the premise for approximately 5 hours in total. Read more about how we work.
Pacific Decontamination Services uses the world’s strongest, most effective and safe antimicrobial disinfectant, deodorization and chemical decontaminate. Our professional application will eliminate up to 99.99999% of any allergen, germ, bacteria or fungus that it touches. AND as powerful as it is, it is also completely safe.
What do you do next? How do you solve the challenge of mold and associated health hazards?
Call Pacific Decontamination Services at 778-269-0208 or email us!
Serving All of Vancouver Island: Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
