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A crawlspace is a space beneath a house between the floor and the earth. In old houses, the crawlspace ranges between 18″ to 36″. The space beneath the house is essential in that most of the important elements like electrical and plumbing are laid there.
The crawlspace is an essential part of the house and is often overlooked during maintenance, and this causes major problems. On the other hand, the crawlspace helps the homeowner understand the house’s history and any past issues that the house might have had.
There are reasons that you need to have in mind when you inspect your crawlspace before spring. Here are the six important reasons to inspect your crawlspace:
- Proper Ventilation
The crawlspace needs sufficient ventilation. Most crawlspaces are designed to be ventilated to reduce problems. The issue caused by lack of ventilation is the buildup of moisture from the earth. When moisture builds up in these crawlspaces, they develop mold and mildew.
The ventilation must allow the moisture from the earth to escape and reduce the buildup under the house.
- Access for mechanical issues
When you have a crawlspace, it is very easy to get to all the plumbing and electrical installations that run under the house. If you have a slab foundation, it forces you to drill holes to access busted pipes. It would be best to insulate the crawlspace to ensure that all the electrical wiring and plumbing are in order before spring.
- Checking on issues
When you inspect your crawlspace before spring, you get the opportunity to check the status of the foundation. When inspecting the crawlspace, you need to check for wood rot and subterranean termites. You need to check what lies underneath the tiles to know if the material used is water-tight.
- Protection from critters
Your crawlspace is a perfect home for critters like mice, rats, squirrels, raccoons, and feral cats. When a crawlspace is not well designed to keep the critters away, it becomes a cozy bed for the critters. The critters chew on warm electrical wires and tear plumbing pipes to access water.
You need to ensure that the mechanicals is well covered with strong material to deter critters’ from accessing the plumbing and electrical wiring.
- Stop moisture
In a scenario that the crawlspace does not have enough ventilation, you have to ensure that no moisture is coming from the earth. You need to check if there is plastic sheeting covering the dirt during your inspection. Suppose there is no plastic sheeting you need to install it.
- Detecting and stopping Radon gas
Radon gas is tasteless, odorless, and radioactive that is found naturally in the earth. This gas seeps into your crawlspace and increases the risk of your family getting cancer. When having your inspection, you need to call a specialist to test if the gas is available in your crawlspace.
Final thoughts
You need to know how to inspect your crawlspace before spring. This inspection will save you a great deal. Do not forget to check the crawlspace for the above issues. The issues covered above are the most common, and you now know how to fix them with ease.
The issues with crawlspace are fixed once to reduce the overall cost of always looking for a contractor. It reduces your efforts of going into the crawlspace to fix problems. Before any contractor advises you to seal your crawlspace, you need to ask yourself, why was the crawlspace put there in the first place? The decision to seal or not seal the crawlspace needs to be deeply considered and investigated.
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