Here in New Jersey, homes are often built with crawl space foundations rather than full basements. They are called crawl spaces for good reasons. Many have heights of three feet or less, so you can only get around hunched over or crawling on your hands and knees. They aren’t built with comfort in mind! The two main reasons for builders choosing crawl spaces are cost and accessibility. Crawl spaces are less costly to build than full basements. First, there is less excavation work. Second, many Jersey Shore areas have a high water table, and dry basements built below the water table have added costs. You must have a properly installed exterior water management system for groundwater control or basement flooding will be a constant headache. Sometimes, crawl spaces can be less expensive than building a concrete slab. For example, moving dirt to level a sloping lot can get expensive. As far as accessibility, crawl spaces provide access for electrical, plumbing, and ducts work for HVAC systems. With crawl spaces, these systems are easy to service for future maintenance and repairs. 

However, everything is not rainbows and butterflies when it comes to crawl spaces. First, they are rarely visited by homeowners and when problems underneath develop, they often go unnoticed for quite awhile. Contrary to what building scientists know today, most crawl spaces are vented, supposedly to get the moisture out. In fact, the opposite happens!  Moist, humid air, especially during our notoriously humid Jersey Shore summers, are sucked into the crawl space. Chronically high humidity and moisture in the crawl space leads to all sorts of problems. In this “tropical” environment, insect populations thrive and mold will start to grow. Often, homeowners don’t realize there is mold in their crawl space until the earthy, musty mold smells start wafting into the living areas of the home. When mold starts growing in the basement, the mold spores are carried everywhere on air currents. Mold can start growing elsewhere in the home and the home’s occupants can start developing mold-related respiratory problems. 

This home in Mantoloking, NJ, was experiencing high relative indoor humidity levels in the crawl space and the homeowner was concerned about the potential for mold growth and other moisture-related issues. He decided to deal with the issue rather than wait for problems to develop and contacted Cowleys to have his crawl space encapsulated. Cowleys has a dedicated team of technicians that convert damp crawl spaces into clean, dry areas where mold can’t grow.

With this home, we conducted a careful inspection to determine the problem areas and develop a treatment strategy. First, we had to remove all of the water-damaged insulation that was not salvageable. We then treated the crawl space for possible mold given the high moisture conditions. We treat indoor mold growth with two different applications, an EPA-registered antimicrobial (MAPS1) followed by a patented sealant (MAPS2) that both kills mold on contact and reactivates to kill future mold growth. We then sealed all of the vents and encapsulated the entire crawl space with a thick vapor barrier. Finally, we installed a commercial-grade dehumidifier that will keep down humidity levels. Mold will only grow if there is sufficient moisture content in the air. With proper dehumidification, the mold is stopped in its tracks.

The homeowner was quite pleased with the end result and was relieved that he no longer had to worry about his problem crawl space. His only regret was not doing this work sooner!