Agree with Michael... any emergency-type issues aside, putting the dehumidifier in completely changes things - and almost immediately. Get you some 12-mil plastic from the CSN DIY store, determine the best location for the dehu unit, put down a good size square of plastic, place the leveled blocks to support the unit on top of it (leaving plenty of plastic to tape to the final barrier install) and get that dehumidifier going (with a condensate solution). It'll start getting the crawl space in order quick and it makes for a lot better working environment for the rest of the project.
I know this is a bit of an older video, but I just came across it as I'm going down the rabbit hole of crawlspace encapsulation. We started looking at our crawl space earlier this summer after I had to get in there and fix some of the AC duct runs. What I saw in the process sent me up and down your playlist. What I noticed was a whole bunch of what appears to my untrained eye as, at best mildew and dirt, and at worst, mold. Some minor insulation stalactites and that stale musky smell. This 70-85% VA humidity isn't helping with the open vents. Anyway, long story short, this needs to be addressed but we also have an attic to deal with as well as HVAC, so the finances are getting stretched thin. I am hoping to be able to do this in stages and hopefully save a bit of money in the process. My plan is to add a dehumidifier + condensate pump, seal all but one vent with foam board and foam, and add a vent fan on the remaining vent to exhaust any soil gases. I am able to get the dehumi and pump at cost and was thinking either a E100 at a minimum or E130 (due to the high humidity and lack of full encapsulation) if I can get it to fit. It's a 1550sq ft space that's on average 2.5-3ft tall. Only form of moisture barrier is loose plastic they laid down when the house was built in '91. My thought is between running electrical, adding a dehumi, condensate pump and drain, blocking vents and installing a vent fan will get me started and save me some money when I have a company (I've sent out for a couple of quotes ranging from 9-15k) come in and do mold remediation, foam board wall insulation, possibly perimeter drainage, pull the joist insulation, and encapsulate with plastic. From your point of view, and I know it's not going to be exact since aren't able to lay eyes on or have all the details, is this an advisable approach? Thanks for all your content!
I think what you described is excellent. Our opinion is we should always address high humidity first. Also you cannot oversize a dehumidifier. I will say that I believe in e100 would be sufficient in your case because an e-130 is a massive dehumidifier. But as you said I have not seen how bad the situation is so if you feel the e130 is needed, then get that. Loose lay plastic and sealing the vents plus the dehumidifier should get the crawl space humidity under control which is the most important thing for us to do. Then everything else can be accomplished. The second thing would be addressing the mold. Or standing water depending on what your budget allows but if you could do both that would be great. I hope this helps thank you for watching.
@@CrawlSpaceNinja thank you for taking the time to weigh in. After spending some more time in the space running electrical, I think E130 is going to be too tight of a fit with the vertical clearance I have after adding cinder blocks for the platform. It appears that E100 is going to be my go to. Again, thank you for your help and your content, wish you guys were in our area.
@@CrawlSpaceNinja figured I'd post this up. Spent the last few days running electrical and lighting, sealing vents w/ foamboard and foam, installed an E100 and condensate pump and ran the condensate line to the flower bed. PCV1 should be in today or tomorrow so installing over the weekend. Had to take a fist full of advil before bed, but this morning I woke up to humidity being down from high 80s to 52, with a setpoint of 50. All condensation that was on the hvac duct work is all gone. Will see if the dehu is going to run non-stop or if it's able to hit the setpoint and keep it there while still cycling on and off. Wood moisture wasn't high as I expected, avg of around 18-21%...worst offenders are areas near duct work. Feel like a broken record, but thank you for all the info you provide, gave me the motivation to tackle this project. Living in ignorance was cheaper (for now haha) and easier on the body 🤣.
Definitely remove the plastic from the floor joists. The next step would be to install the perimeter drainage system with sump basin and sump pump. Lots of people forget once you encapsulate your crawl space, you basically have a swimming pool. You need to have a way to deal with any water that gets on top of the vapor barrier. (Water leaks, flooding, or burst pipes do happen) Adding a Dranjer F-S2 valve to your sump basin cover is a good solution. I plan to run drainage legs to the center of each of my crawl space zones. Each one will be just under flush with the ground and have their own Dranjer valve.
I have a question: I’m beginning to address issues in my crawl space (mold, vapor barrier replacement, etc) For the 1st phase I plain to close off all vents except 1 which I will install a fan( 220 cfm) opposite of the Aprilair 80 that im installing. btw the space is 2400sf. At this point I want to remove all insulation to insure I remove moisture that’s accumulated behind the paper. This this okay? The space already has a vapor barrier but poorly installed. I will then also correct the poorly placed sump pump and install correctly. I want to address the moister issue first. Then I have a fogger which I will use to spray sporicidon after I turn off the dehumidifier and AC for a few hours. Then I will begin to use a soda blaster to remove the mold. Next step will be to begin total encapsulation. Will this steps work. Appreciate any feedback please. Thanks in advance
Adrian, you definitely will want to remove the old insulation and improperly installed vapor barrier. Here's a video on running a fogger in your crawl space: ruclips.net/video/N4Juw0Gr4q4/видео.html This is also an informative video on soda blasting: ruclips.net/video/6jnHZhYZSVQ/видео.html It looks like you have a solid game plan. Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for watching and we hope you have a happy and blessed day!
Derek said he had a vapor barrier attached to the bottom of the floor joist. You said to rip it out because it could trap moisture. What if a radiant barrier is attached to the bottom of your floor joists?
When one does get to the encapsulation phase, can you install the new 12 mil barrier over the loose lay builder installed plastic to save labor and time, or should it be taken up/removed first? Seems if it is in good shape without much damage/holes, it may only add to the thickness of the new ground barrier overall and further lower the barrier’s water vapor permeance.
You'll want to remove any debris plastic and anything else before laying down a new vapor barrier moisture can get trapped between the two of them and build mold growth and create smells
I just installed a french drain in my crawlspace. The ground is completely wet. No standing water, but the dirt is completely wet and very soft. Will it dry out with a dehumidifier? If it will, seems like it could take a long time.
Vinyl Rules, thanks for the question! A crawl space can usually be dried out in eight to ten hours with a dehumidifier set at 30% or 45% humidity. Moisture levels and the size of the area determine how long it takes to dry out. After you remove all debris and outstanding water from your crawl space, you can use a dehumidifier to dry it out. We hope this helps. Have a happy and blessed day!
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Agree with Michael... any emergency-type issues aside, putting the dehumidifier in completely changes things - and almost immediately. Get you some 12-mil plastic from the CSN DIY store, determine the best location for the dehu unit, put down a good size square of plastic, place the leveled blocks to support the unit on top of it (leaving plenty of plastic to tape to the final barrier install) and get that dehumidifier going (with a condensate solution). It'll start getting the crawl space in order quick and it makes for a lot better working environment for the rest of the project.
I know this is a bit of an older video, but I just came across it as I'm going down the rabbit hole of crawlspace encapsulation.
We started looking at our crawl space earlier this summer after I had to get in there and fix some of the AC duct runs. What I saw in the process sent me up and down your playlist. What I noticed was a whole bunch of what appears to my untrained eye as, at best mildew and dirt, and at worst, mold. Some minor insulation stalactites and that stale musky smell. This 70-85% VA humidity isn't helping with the open vents.
Anyway, long story short, this needs to be addressed but we also have an attic to deal with as well as HVAC, so the finances are getting stretched thin. I am hoping to be able to do this in stages and hopefully save a bit of money in the process.
My plan is to add a dehumidifier + condensate pump, seal all but one vent with foam board and foam, and add a vent fan on the remaining vent to exhaust any soil gases. I am able to get the dehumi and pump at cost and was thinking either a E100 at a minimum or E130 (due to the high humidity and lack of full encapsulation) if I can get it to fit. It's a 1550sq ft space that's on average 2.5-3ft tall. Only form of moisture barrier is loose plastic they laid down when the house was built in '91. My thought is between running electrical, adding a dehumi, condensate pump and drain, blocking vents and installing a vent fan will get me started and save me some money when I have a company (I've sent out for a couple of quotes ranging from 9-15k) come in and do mold remediation, foam board wall insulation, possibly perimeter drainage, pull the joist insulation, and encapsulate with plastic.
From your point of view, and I know it's not going to be exact since aren't able to lay eyes on or have all the details, is this an advisable approach?
Thanks for all your content!
I think what you described is excellent. Our opinion is we should always address high humidity first. Also you cannot oversize a dehumidifier. I will say that I believe in e100 would be sufficient in your case because an e-130 is a massive dehumidifier. But as you said I have not seen how bad the situation is so if you feel the e130 is needed, then get that. Loose lay plastic and sealing the vents plus the dehumidifier should get the crawl space humidity under control which is the most important thing for us to do. Then everything else can be accomplished. The second thing would be addressing the mold. Or standing water depending on what your budget allows but if you could do both that would be great. I hope this helps thank you for watching.
@@CrawlSpaceNinja thank you for taking the time to weigh in.
After spending some more time in the space running electrical, I think E130 is going to be too tight of a fit with the vertical clearance I have after adding cinder blocks for the platform. It appears that E100 is going to be my go to.
Again, thank you for your help and your content, wish you guys were in our area.
@@CrawlSpaceNinja figured I'd post this up. Spent the last few days running electrical and lighting, sealing vents w/ foamboard and foam, installed an E100 and condensate pump and ran the condensate line to the flower bed. PCV1 should be in today or tomorrow so installing over the weekend.
Had to take a fist full of advil before bed, but this morning I woke up to humidity being down from high 80s to 52, with a setpoint of 50. All condensation that was on the hvac duct work is all gone. Will see if the dehu is going to run non-stop or if it's able to hit the setpoint and keep it there while still cycling on and off. Wood moisture wasn't high as I expected, avg of around 18-21%...worst offenders are areas near duct work.
Feel like a broken record, but thank you for all the info you provide, gave me the motivation to tackle this project. Living in ignorance was cheaper (for now haha) and easier on the body 🤣.
Definitely remove the plastic from the floor joists. The next step would be to install the perimeter drainage system with sump basin and sump pump. Lots of people forget once you encapsulate your crawl space, you basically have a swimming pool. You need to have a way to deal with any water that gets on top of the vapor barrier. (Water leaks, flooding, or burst pipes do happen) Adding a Dranjer F-S2 valve to your sump basin cover is a good solution. I plan to run drainage legs to the center of each of my crawl space zones. Each one will be just under flush with the ground and have their own Dranjer valve.
Lol love the comparison to swimming pool, indeed vinyl liner swimming pools
I have a question:
I’m beginning to address issues in my crawl space (mold, vapor barrier replacement, etc)
For the 1st phase I plain to close off all vents except 1 which I will install a fan( 220 cfm) opposite of the Aprilair 80 that im installing. btw the space is 2400sf. At this point I want to remove all insulation to insure I remove moisture that’s accumulated behind the paper. This this okay?
The space already has a vapor barrier but poorly installed.
I will then also correct the poorly placed sump pump and install correctly.
I want to address the moister issue first.
Then I have a fogger which I will use to spray sporicidon after I turn off the dehumidifier and AC for a few hours.
Then I will begin to use a soda blaster to remove the mold.
Next step will be to begin total encapsulation.
Will this steps work.
Appreciate any feedback please.
Thanks in advance
Adrian, you definitely will want to remove the old insulation and improperly installed vapor barrier. Here's a video on running a fogger in your crawl space: ruclips.net/video/N4Juw0Gr4q4/видео.html This is also an informative video on soda blasting: ruclips.net/video/6jnHZhYZSVQ/видео.html It looks like you have a solid game plan. Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for watching and we hope you have a happy and blessed day!
Derek said he had a vapor barrier attached to the bottom of the floor joist. You said to rip it out because it could trap moisture. What if a radiant barrier is attached to the bottom of your floor joists?
The radiant barrier would have the same effect. You'll want to remove it so that moisture does not get trapped.
When one does get to the encapsulation phase, can you install the new 12 mil barrier over the loose lay builder installed plastic to save labor and time, or should it be taken up/removed first? Seems if it is in good shape without much damage/holes, it may only add to the thickness of the new ground barrier overall and further lower the barrier’s water vapor permeance.
You'll want to remove any debris plastic and anything else before laying down a new vapor barrier moisture can get trapped between the two of them and build mold growth and create smells
I just installed a french drain in my crawlspace. The ground is completely wet. No standing water, but the dirt is completely wet and very soft. Will it dry out with a dehumidifier? If it will, seems like it could take a long time.
Vinyl Rules, thanks for the question! A crawl space can usually be dried out in eight to ten hours with a dehumidifier set at 30% or 45% humidity. Moisture levels and the size of the area determine how long it takes to dry out. After you remove all debris and outstanding water from your crawl space, you can use a dehumidifier to dry it out. We hope this helps. Have a happy and blessed day!
@@CrawlSpaceNinja Thanks!