If your house in Santa Rosa, CA has a crawl space underneath it, you may not realize that the floors in your home are affected by heat and humidity. When an unsealed crawl space with a dirt floor is combined with the summer heat, it becomes an open invitation for wood rot and mold, which can adversely affect your family’s health and safety. Although water has the potential for causing the most harm to the wood structures in your crawl space, heat is also a culprit for causing damage. Never fear, there are ways to prevent this and make your family more comfortable and safer as a result.

Why removing crawlspace moisture matters

Crawl space moisture is often facilitated by the condensation caused from the combination of heat and ventilation. Warm air rises, carrying air from the crawl space into other parts of your home. Moisture, and anything else that is light enough to travel with the air, such as mold spores and fecal matter from rodents, gets into the air you breathe. Ventilated spaces only exacerbate the problem. One way to fight moisture in your crawl space is to keep vents closed or remove vents completely. This will eliminate other irritants from outside air and make your home more energy efficient as well.

Preventing moisture causing conditions

The best way to fight moisture in your crawl space is to prevent it. Because the stack effect cycles air from the space throughout your home, the moisture in that air can warp or rot the wood in the floor above it. This can create a hazardous condition for you and your family. Encapsulation is the process of completely sealing a crawl space by installing high and low density polyethylene over the dirt floors and walls. Fiberglass insulation is too porous to achieve the effect of eliminating moisture formed by the heat and humidity that enter the space. The moisture simply seeps through. With encapsulation, moisture is removed from the ground and air, creating a more mold-free environment. Using a dehumidifier also works against the effects of humidity related moisture in your crawl space because it can help keep humidity levels low enough to prevent mold growth. That equates to your family breathing healthier air. Other vapor barrier systems can also be used, and your local mold remediation specialist can help you decide which system is best for the conditions in your crawl space.

Final thoughts

The summer heat can create issues in your home’s crawl space, but you can prevent moisture and create a less hospitable environment for harmful mold growth in the process. If you have a dirt crawl space or open vents, then you have a continuous source of moisture. Talk to the experts at Restoration Certified Specialists about the mold remediation process. We can help you win the fight between the summer heat and your crawl space.