bad news from terminix

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:30 pm

I just had a visit from a terminix inspector as a result of my yearly application. Seems my crawl space is too high in regard to moisture. I have a few spots that are in excess 20% and some of the beams are starting to show evidence of mold and fungus. The guy says I'm right at the beginning stages and no problems yet, but I need to get the moisture under control.

He recommend that I completely cover the crawl space in plastic and close off all vents. He says they've tested this for years and it's the best way to bring the moisture down.

That said, I need about 1300 sq ft of 6mil industrial grade plastic. They offered to install it for about ~600 bucks and that's 100% coverage of the dirt up the bricks. I think this is pretty low tech work, just labor intensive. Any place local that sells this?

JamesShort · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:35 pm

6mm??? That's some thick stuff.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:39 pm

JamesShort wrote:

6mm??? That's some thick stuff.

"mil" is not short for millimeters.

guage * 0.01 = mil
mil / 0.01 = guage

mil * 0.0254 = millimeter
millimeter / 0.0254 = mil

RobLupella · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:46 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

I just had a visit from a terminix inspector as a result of my yearly application. Seems my crawl space is too high in regard to moisture. I have a few spots that are in excess 20% and some of the beams are starting to show evidence of mold and fungus. The guy says I'm right at the beginning stages and no problems yet, but I need to get the moisture under control.

He recommend that I completely cover the crawl space in plastic and close off all vents. He says they've tested this for years and it's the best way to bring the moisture down.

That said, I need about 1300 sq ft of 6mil industrial grade plastic. They offered to install it for about ~600 bucks and that's 100% coverage of the dirt up the bricks. I think this is pretty low tech work, just labor intensive. Any place local that sells this?

I think you can get that at Lowe's or HDepot. It is a bit of a pain to work with but you are correct in that it is just a labor intensive job.

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:48 pm

RobLupella wrote:

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

If you are Rodney's height that is true. However if you are Kendt's height... :thumbsup:

JamesShort · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:52 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

6mm??? That's some thick stuff.

"mil" is not short for millimeters.

guage * 0.01 = mil
mil / 0.01 = guage

mil * 0.0254 = millimeter
millimeter / 0.0254 = mil

So it's just a thousandth of an inch then?

JohnByers · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:52 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

RobLupella wrote:

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

If you are Rodney's height that is true. However if you are Kendt's height... :thumbsup:

Zing

I sometimes wish my house was built with a crawl space when wanting to run networking, etc.

<--elevated slab house

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:59 pm

Here's some good info about and if I'm not mistaken it's commonly referred to as a 'vapor barrier'.

http://therestorationresource.com/Crawl ... rself.html

It looks like this might only be a $100 project with $500 left over for tire $$$ if you do it yourself.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=3631

If recommend a box of sod staples to keep it from moving around as we use them all the time for rubber mulch Playzones beneath the playsets. They tap right in to the soil with the use of a light hammer.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:03 pm

RobLupella wrote:

I think you can get that at Lowe's or HDepot. It is a bit of a pain to work with but you are correct in that it is just a labor intensive job.

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

I have some knee pads I've used unsuccessfully at work for job advancements, so I can just use those at the house to install the plastic. The lowest spot is about 3ft of space and the tallest about 4, so no standing for me while under the house. I'll check at lowes and HD this weekend for the plastic.

If they don't have it, any other recommendations?

JohnByers · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:05 pm

Has to be some industrial suppliers around there that would have it. Building suppliers etc that aren't the typical Home Depot/Lowes etc.

KendtEklund · **Joined:** Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:29 pm **Posts:** 1204

JohnByers wrote:

Vincent Keene wrote:

RobLupella wrote:

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

If you are Rodney's height that is true. However if you are Kendt's height... :thumbsup:

Zing

I sometimes wish my house was built with a crawl space when wanting to run networking, etc.

<--elevated slab house

I am now the BMW of short jokes... :roll:

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:36 pm

i am glad i have a crwlspace or i would have no where to store car parts!!!

JohnByers wrote:

Vincent Keene wrote:

RobLupella wrote:

Hope your crawlspace is high though as it is tiring to have to "crawl" all the time

If you are Rodney's height that is true. However if you are Kendt's height... :thumbsup:

Zing

I sometimes wish my house was built with a crawl space when wanting to run networking, etc.

<--elevated slab house

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:52 pm

jeremy gast wrote:

i am glad i have a crwlspace or i would have no where to store car parts!!!

LOL..... I can attest to that, still have wheels from the cutlass under the house I need to get rid of! VK just took my last set of mustang wheels, so at least those are gone now....

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:24 pm

man i still have s10 wheels under my house and aircooled bug parts both have been gone for years.

Frank Catena · **Joined:** Wed Aug 27, 2003 1:08 pm **Posts:** 418

Remember to seal the vents too when you're in there. The old advice about opening them in the summer and closing in the winter has changed. In bad situations, I've seen some homes with dehumidifiers too.

All this assumes no water in your crawl space. If you have water/drainage issues you need to deal with that first but its sounds like you're OK there.. If the ground is just damp the vapor barrier should be fine.

Another thing to check is that any A/C condensation drains are properly sending the water outside your foundation. Should be easy to check in this humidity.

Frank

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