hi damion rutherford here with jes. with our very first episode of chalkboard chat. where0:00:11.139,0:00:16.440we answer your questions about foundation repair, crawlspace repairs, and basement waterproofing.0:00:16.440,0:00:20.900today's question comes from scott right in my home town of virginia beach, va0:00:20.900,0:00:26.710and he askes "what's the best way to eliminate moisture from my crawlspace?"well scott, that's a great question,0:00:26.710,0:00:31.419and to eliminate any moisture from your crawl space the first thing you do,0:00:31.419,0:00:35.480is you have to find the source of the moisture.so that involves having an inspection done, or some type of0:00:35.480,0:00:37.790evaluation, whether it's by a professional,0:00:37.790,0:00:39.530or you do it yourself.0:00:39.530,0:00:44.500now, if your crawl space looks anything like this, like a lot of the crawlspaces we see,0:00:44.500,0:00:47.790it’s probably not a place you want to spend a lot of your time atso0:00:47.790,0:00:50.519if you just don't want to deal with it, take some advice:0:00:50.519,0:00:52.520get a professional to do it for you.0:00:52.520,0:00:56.650at jes, we do it free of charge. we'll do an inspection to find out what is causing the problem0:00:56.650,0:00:59.240and why, and what can be done to solve the problems.0:00:59.240,0:01:01.040but, if you do want to do it yourself,0:01:01.040,0:01:04.830let me go over a few things to look for to find where the source of the moisture0:01:04.830,0:01:06.530in your crawlspace is0:01:06.530,0:01:11.490first of all, realize there is 3 sources where moisture can come into your crawlspace from.0:01:11.490,0:01:14.950the first one is moisture from outside of your crawlspace.0:01:14.950,0:01:17.870for example, when it rains, or we have a snow that melts,0:01:17.870,0:01:22.909the ground becomes saturated with water, the water table rises, and water comes into your crawl0:01:22.909,0:01:27.400space from that source. here's a great picture to show you a great example where the crawlspace is0:01:27.400,0:01:31.049flooded and this is from which from ground water.0:01:31.049,0:01:33.890another thing to look for is your crawlspace door.0:01:33.890,0:01:38.880is the crawlspace door loose, are there gaps around it?is there not one there at all?0:01:38.880,0:01:42.670if this is the case it’s another source foroutside of water and moisture to get in your0:01:42.670,0:01:48.040crawlspace. when the steps there thoughgrowl are coming off into a crawl space or0:01:48.040,0:01:53.070when there's gaps there, the ground water can run off into your crawlspace. or,0:01:53.070,0:01:54.729even when it rains,0:01:54.729,0:01:57.180likewise, look at your crawlspace vents.0:01:57.180,0:02:01.460if they're open, the same thing can apply.when there's rain there's wind,0:02:01.460,0:02:06.270and the wind can blow the rain right into your crawlspace through the crawlspace vents.0:02:06.270,0:02:10.670now, the second thing to look for in your crawlspace for sources of moisture, are sources of moisture from within your crawl0:02:10.670,0:02:11.839space.0:02:11.839,0:02:15.909a good example of that is any type of piping or plumbing that you have in your crawlspace0:02:15.909,0:02:20.479that can leak.this can be one of the sources of moisture that you get in your crawlspace.0:02:20.479,0:02:24.559some homeowners in the area, they have their hot water heater down in their crawlspace,0:02:24.559,0:02:28.299and take a look at that equipment that you have down there.if that leaks or busts, that can be a0:02:28.299,0:02:31.790source of moisture in your crawlspace. the third way that moisture gets into your crawlspace is from high humidity levels. this is the one0:02:35.840,0:02:37.989that people tend to forget about0:02:37.989,0:02:40.249when you have hot air on the outside0:02:40.249,0:02:42.829and cool air on the inside of you crawlspace0:02:42.829,0:02:46.949when you mix hot air and cold air together you get... you guessed it... condensation.0:02:46.949,0:02:50.909when you have high humidity levels like, take a look at this picture here, we have a0:02:50.909,0:02:54.129relative humidity level of almost 88 percent. now,0:02:54.129,0:02:58.159when we're at 100% relative humidity we get rain, so 88% is very, very0:02:58.159,0:02:59.649high.0:02:59.649,0:03:04.259here's another reading at nearly 82%.so, when you have this high humidity level,0:03:04.259,0:03:08.649that can cause the condensation that you see on the piping and the plumbing in your crawlspace.0:03:08.649,0:03:13.009it can also be the reason why you'll get wood rot. either in the subfloor, or in the beams0:03:13.009,0:03:15.499in your crawlspace.0:03:15.499,0:03:19.099you may also start to see condensation start to form on any ductwork0:03:19.099,0:03:22.969that's in your crawlspace, as you can see in this picture here.0:03:22.969,0:03:27.759it's also the reason you'll see the insulation in your crawlspace begin to fail, and start to rot0:03:27.759,0:03:29.229and fall down0:03:29.229,0:03:33.399and hang.it's because it's getting wet from moisture in the air, the condensation that we talked about from the humidity0:03:33.399,0:03:34.729levels.0:03:34.729,0:03:38.529so not very good, not healthy for your crawlspace or your home whatsoever.so0:03:38.529,0:03:42.979the first thing is to find out what the source of the moisture is in your crawlspace.0:03:42.979,0:03:45.869once you know the source then you can stop the source,0:03:45.869,0:03:48.089and you do it the same way that we inspect it.0:03:48.089,0:03:52.769the first thing we do is stop any type of outside moisture from getting into your crawlspace.0:03:52.769,0:03:56.549secondly, we stop any type of inside moisture leaks from happening.0:03:56.549,0:03:57.709third,0:03:57.709,0:04:01.029we control the humidity levels in the air in your crawlspace.0:04:01.029,0:04:04.519when we do all three of these, we've created a conditioned crawlspace0:04:04.519,0:04:06.729that will be dry and healthy.0:04:06.729,0:04:11.940and, as an added benefit, you can actually pick up added storage space under your crawlspace0:04:11.940,0:04:14.939because you have a condition that you can store your belongings in.0:04:14.939,0:04:17.249so it's a great idea, not only for the health of your home,0:04:17.249,0:04:21.439but for the integrity of your crawlspace itself to keep any type of moisture0:04:21.439,0:04:22.819out.0:04:22.819,0:04:27.159and that's it! so hopefully you’ve found this video helpful. if you did, do me a favor ,0:04:27.159,0:04:29.910click on the like button0:04:29.910,0:04:34.440below this video and let me know that you appreciate the information. if you have a comment to share 0:04:34.440,0:04:37.929with me, or if you have a different opinion on the information here 0:04:37.929,0:04:40.439don't be afraid to share that with us.0:04:40.439,0:04:44.369if you have a question yourself, you can post that in the comments on this video, 0:04:44.369,0:04:48.269or on our youtube channel. we’ll be glad to answer0:04:48.269,0:04:50.270your questions.0:04:50.270,0:04:55.599and that's it. this is damion rutherford with jes, and we’ll see you next time with chalboard chat!
Emoticon