For a home with a crawlspace, it is important to know the purpose for this small space as well as conduct regular maintenance. A crawl space generally provides support for the living areas located above, and serves as a buffer between the house and the ground below. A crawl space includes a series of support beams and structures that are vital to the stability of your home and any damage to these systems could make the floors of your home buckle. To protect the integrity of your home, you will want to ensure that you maintain a properly-maintained crawl space.
Here are five tips for the regular maintenance of your crawl space:
1. Seal Vents and Openings
Vented crawl spaces allow outside air, water, and pests into your crawl space. This can create unhealthy conditions for you and your family. You will want to ensure that any vents or openings are airtight. Also, you will want to be on the lookout for any cracks or other openings in the walls. Any space that lets in water and insects could expand and weaken your home. Repairs will be expensive and disruptive.
American Eagle are trusted foundation repair and crawl space repair professionals and we can address these issues the right way to ensure your home is properly protected.
2. Install Drainage and a Sump Pump
Often the first place to flood in your home is the basement or crawl space. By having crawl space waterproofing methods in place, you can protect your home from severe damage. You will want to ensure there is adequate interior drainage and a sump pump installed. At American Eagle Professional Services, we use the PHCC Pro Series line of sump pumps. Created by SafeBasements with Glentronics, these sump pumps feature the most modern, energy efficient, and high volume pumping of any in the industry.
3. Encapsulate & Insulate
One of the best ways of protecting your crawl space is by sealing it with a vapor barrier, which goes over the floor and walls and around obstacles. By encapsulating your crawl space, you will lock out moisture and avert problems like wood rot and mold growth. Adding insulation to crawl space walls will work with any encapsulation to seal to space completely, ensuring water and moisture don’t infiltrate. The outcome is a warmer crawl space that’s also free from radon gas and less attractive to rodents and crawling insects. We have a resource regarding crawl space encapsulation to know more of what it is and how it works.
4. Get a Dehumidifier
A dehumidifier sucks out moisture from the air, creating a dry space. Dehumidification plays an important role in that it bolsters whatever you want to achieve by sealing the crawl space. Your crawl space waterproofing efforts would be incomplete without a dehumidifier. At American Eagle, we install Santa Fe Force Dehumidifiers. Humid crawl spaces and clammy basements are no match for the Santa Fe Force Dehumidifier. As the newest crawl space dehumidifier, the Force controls damaging humidity in both large and small crawl spaces and basements.
5. Maintain Your Landscaping
Taking care of external conditions that could cause issues to your crawl space is just as important as addressing internal factors. How your yard slopes around the perimeter of your home will have an affect on moisture entering your crawl space or not. By ensuring your yard slopes away from the perimeter of your home so rainwater won’t flow back, you are setting yourself up for success from excessive rainfall entering your crawl space.
Contact Us for Crawl Space Maintenance Services
Crawl Space maintenance is vital to ensuring the integrity of the foundation of your home. At American Eagle Professional Service, our team of experts provides excellent crawl space services. Contact American Eagle today by filling out our online contact form or by calling (410) 263-9682 to schedule an inspection and appointment.
