WE CAN FIX "YOUR" CRAWL SPACE - Call Toll Free 1-877-506-3029.

Common sources of Moisture in the Home

Excess moisture in a home can weaken a home's structure, damage personal belongings, cause unpleasant odors and reduce air quality. A high level of moisture can cause mold growth which can lead to bacteria, cockroaches and dust mites. This excess moisture can also cause the rotting of a home's foundation and be the origin of asthma and allergies in the home's inhabitants.

Moisture can originate from a number of outdoor sources as well as from the activities of those living in the home. Shown in the picture is the EZ BREATHE ventilation system. This can help in the reduction of odors, smells, and reduce humidity in the home as well as the crawl space.

Some outdoor sources include:

• Foundation drainage
• Below-grade walls
• Blocked exterior air circulation
• Water seepage through foundation brick and block to the crawl space or basement

Indoor sources include:

• Moisture from the crawl space
• Domestic activities
• Appliances
• House plants
• Air conditioners
• Damp basements

Excess moisture within a home is not a hard problem to diagnose. There are numerous symptoms that can indicate that there is a high level of moisture within your home. These include:

• Odors: higher humidity leads to the increase in indoor smells. Musty odors can be caused by mold, mildew and rot.
• Frost and ice on cold surfaces
• Damp feeling within the home
• Surface discoloration, staining and texture changing
• Deformed wood surfaces and wood decay
• Sweating pipes
• Peeling paint
• Chipping concrete
• Increased indoor humidity
• Rust

It is important to diagnose excess moisture problems early to prevent further damage. Call us to perform a free inspection of your home if you think you have any of these warning signs.

Sump Pumps

All dirt and vented crawl spaces can benefit greatly from encapsulation with the CleanSpace System, but if there is an existing water problem it needs to be dealt with before a homeowner can seal their crawl space. The core of this system is a sump pump, but only one that is designed specially for use with crawl spaces and the CleanSpace system.

There are plenty of horror stories of failing sump pumps, but choosing the right sump equipment can keep the space beneath your home free of water. The wrong sump pump, however, could make it you telling the story of how your sump failed when you needed it.

Ameri Care Services uses pumps manufactured and designed by Basement Systems and has developed the SmartSump to fill just that role. The pump itself is a high quality, 1/3rd horsepower Zoeller sump pump, but it is only one element in this carefully designed system.

The Sump Liner
If a sump pump is in a dirt-lined hole it will quickly clog and cease protecting your crawl space. The remedy for this is a sump liner, but only one that is the right size for the pump. A liner that is too small, for example, could cause a pump to “short cycle,” or turn on and off quickly because there is too little water for it to pump. A well-built liner that is the right size for the pump is the best solution.

Pump Stand
A well designed pump stand will keep the pump elevated and away from silt or debris that does get into the sump liner. This not only prevents clogging or damage to the pump, but also helps keep the check valve clear so pumping capacity won’t be reduced over time by buildup in the discharge pipe.

Air-Tight Sump Lid with Floor Drain
Since one of the main purposes of encapsulating your crawl space is to isolate it from the moisture below, an open sump basin would be counterproductive. Without this lid, not only would there be a hole in your system but any water that did get into the sump would evaporate up into your home. An air-tight lid not only solves this problem, but it stops things from fall into and clogging the pump while making the whole installation look clean and professional.

Sometimes, though, water from below your home isn’t the worry. Without any way to get water out of your newly encapsulated crawl space, a plumbing leak could fill it like a swimming pool! The solution to this is a one way, air-tight valve in the sump lid so that any water that gets down there can drain away.

Pump Alarm
Another necessity is a battery powered alarm that warns you if you have a inside leak. Because most crawl spaces are visited infrequently, it is possible to have a plumbing leak for years and not know it. The SmartSump comes standard with our WaterWatch Alarm that will warn you if there is a problem.

Lifetime Warranty
Pump manufacturers do not offer lifetime warranties. There are contractors who put “Lifetime Warranty!” or “Free Pump replacements forever!” on all their advertising. Thinking down the line reveals a problem with this: the only way you’ll know to call them for a replacement is after the pump has failed and your crawl space is full of water.

Dry Already?
If a crawl space does not require a pump to deal with pre-existing water problems, there still needs to be a way to drain water in case of a plumbing leak. The SmartDrain combines the features of the SmartSump – the WaterWatch Alarm and air-tight lid with one-way floor drain – while letting water seep away into the soil. With this system the WaterWatch alarm will let you know if you have a leak without you finding your crawl space full of water!

Bigger Problems
At the other end of the spectrum, a crawl space that has serious water problems will need more than a SmartSump. A pump with increased pumping capacity and extra redundancy is necessary to do the best job keeping your crawl space dry. The TripleSafe is just such a system.

As the name implies, the TripleSafe actually has three pumps:

1.A primary pump.
2.A secondary pump that will switch on if the primary pump fails or can’t keep up with the volume of water.
3.A battery powered backup pump in case the power goes out – which often happens during big rain storms!
For more details on the TripleSafe, SmartSump or SmartDrain, visit the Basement Systems website.

WE CAN FIX "YOUR" CRAWL SPACE - Call Toll Free 1-877-506-3029

Clean Space Encapsulation

There are only two primary ingredients needed for rot and mold to thrive: one is organic material, like the wood beneath a home, and the second is water. Replacing the wood in a house is practically impossible, so the only avenue to preventing structural damage and those musty smells is to eliminate the moisture.

Previously the tactic was to add vents to a crawl space, which were supposed to allow the moisture to dissipate. These vented crawl spaces, instead of becoming less damp, end up being more wet for several reasons. The stack effect, a house’s natural tendency to draw air in from the crawl space and lower levels upward into living spaces, means that instead of letting moist air out, a house sucks more moist air in! Another problem with venting a crawl space is that it allows all kinds of bugs and critters direct access to a home.

The biggest issue with adding vents is that it does not address the main problem – moisture from the dirt beneath a home – so venting a crawl space isn’t even addressing the actual problem.

Even if a crawl space is not flooded or visibly wet, that additional humidity can spell trouble for your home – and your health. The fungus responsible for rot and mold not only eats away at the structure of a home, but spreads by producing millions and millions of airborne spores. These spores are a prime suspect for aggravating allergies and many people don’t even know what it is that bothers them when they are at home.

There is a solution, however, to all of these problems. Instead of struggling against nature to remove moisture from a crawl space, Basement Systems developed the CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation System, which seals a crawl space off from that moisture coming up from the dirt and from the damp air outside.

CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation System
Rather than let the moisture in and then try to get rid of it, CleanSpace isolates a home from the earth entirely so the humidity never gets in there to begin with. This strategy also stops bugs and other critters from getting into a crawl space while reducing, or sometimes even eliminating mold growth and rot.

The key to the CleanSpace system is the patented, 20-mil thick liner material. It is a tough blend of seven polyethylene and polyester cord reinforcement layers, designed specially for crawl spaces. Since the side you see after installation is bright white, it really brightens a crawl space and lets you know that it is free of mold, insects and dirt. The liner is so tough you can crawl on it and use your crawl space for storage without worry of putting holes or tears in it. And, of course, it completely stops moisture from getting in and ruining the underside of your house.

Crawl Space Dehumidifiers

Even after you have encapsulated your crawl space with CleanSpace, dampness can collect below a home. Houses naturally draw air in from the lower levels, bringing in air from the outside through your crawl space. This is known as the stack effect, and it can bring up the relative humidity levels throughout a whole house. Up to 40% of the air on the first floor can come from the crawl space below.

This is a huge problem in the more humid summer months. Every degree that air cools raises its Relative Humidity by 2.2%, so when warm air is pulled into your cool crawl space the additional moisture will condense on your air conditioning ducts, CleanSpace system and even the floor joists. Wood and water are a bad combination, since all it takes is a little moisture on an organic material for rot and mold to take over. To add to the problem, that humid air is also drawn up and into a home via the stack effect – and brings any mold or musty smell up into living areas with it.

There are only two ways to remove the damp. You could heat the air to lower the Relative Humidity – and pay the money for your air conditioner to fight the heater in your crawl space (while the moisture STILL condenses on your cold ducting) – or you can attack the problem directly with a sophisticated and appropriate dehumidifier.

Most dehumidifiers, however, are simply not up to the job. The small coil of a regular dehumidifier is inefficient at pulling moisture from the cooler, crawl space air, so it has to run longer and work harder. Additionally, many dehumidifiers are horribly inefficient in their own right and do not deal significantly with filtering the air.

The Right Equipment
The clear solution is a dehumidifier that is designed specially for a damp crawl space. After dealing with this problem for nearly 20 years, Basement Systems developed an amazing dehumidifier system to meet strict Energy Star requirements while maximizing the amount of water pulled from the air – the perfect solution for crawl space moisture. The end result The SaniDry Crawl Space Air System can pull almost three times as much water from the air as its leading competitors – all while using less electricity! The SaniDry also has a two-stage filtration system that handles particles all the way down to two microns in size, cleaning your crawl space air while it sucks out the moisture.

To learn more about the SaniDry dehumidifier, contact Ameri Care Services, Inc. today for a FREE estimate and copy of "Crawl Space Science," which explains more about the system, relative humidity, and dehumidification in general.

EZ Breathe makes a Difference

I was asked recently what was meant on a Home Inspection Report ordered by the buyer on a recent Real Estate transaction. It said the crawl space had "Mold" or a "Mold like substance" in the crawl space.

I told her she wasn't alone; we get that calls like that everyday. Many homes built in the southeast suffer from poor moisture management. The mold is most likely aspergillus or penicillium, both very common in the crawl space. Crawl Space mold which exists because of excess moisture, can cause allergies and affect your family's health. A plumbing leak, poorly installed vapor barrier, water intrusion in the crawl space, or just warm humid air entering the crawl space resulting in condensation could be the source.

Alone or in combination these conditions will lead to mold growth. We recommend removal of any standing water, having a proper barrier installed with 100% of the ground covered, repairing plumbing leaks, if any, treating the wood with an appropriate fungicide and installing an EZ Breathe unit. This will serve as a dehumidifier, air purifier, and ventilation system and will keep the crawl space humidity below 50% and not allow mold to grow.