Mold, Fungus, Rot, and Critters - Home Mid-State Basement Systems Can Help Homeowners

Almost every problem that occurs in a crawl space can be linked right back to one cause: moisture. Moisture is a death sentence that can not only cause structural damage to your home, but can be responsible for triggering allergies and raising your utiliy bills.

Why does mold exist?

Mold has a purpose: to break down or eat dead organic matter. Without mold, plant and animal material would grow and pile up. But that means its also a threat to your home. 

Houses are full of organic matter: wood, for example.

Mold sends spores everywhere, and once those spores come in contact with dead, wet organic matter, mold begins to grow and eat away at the material. 

This often leads to rotted, moldy floor joists that threaten the security of your foundation.

What else can moisture cause?

Pests. Dust mites absorb water from the air, so cool damp environments like a vented dirt crawl space are perfect for them. Dust mites are the number allergen that people with asthma and allergies react to. Dust mites need over 50% relative humidity to live. 

In addition to dust mites, moisture in your crawl space can lead to termites, spiders, mice, rats, and snakes. 

What can be done?

When it gets to the point of structural damage, most people will have a contractor come repair the structure. Eventually that wood will also mold and rot. Because the underlying problem is moisture and if that isn't solved, it will just keep happening.

Most molds need 70% relative humidity to grow. In most crawl spaces, the relative humidty of surfaces is often higher than the air—this is important when talking about mold growth. Moisture and humidity need to be controlled in order to keep your home safe from mold.

At Mid-State Basement Systems we like to start by sealing the basement. Vents pull in outside air and trap it in the crawl space causing moisture to build and mold to grow. By sealing the ventilation, we can keep excess moisture from ever enter the crawl space. Next we'll install drainage matting and CleanSpace Vapor Barrier. 

A vapor barrier does exactly what its name says: it provides a barrier against water vapor. It slows or prevents ground water seepage from evaporating into the crawl space air.