Click to Contact Us
217-347-7500  |  info@thecrawlspacedoctors.com

Free Consultations

Take advantage of our FREE, no obligation consultation service. One of our crawl space doctors will do a full inspection of your crawl space to determine problem areas.

217-347-7500

What Happens During an Inspection?

One of our professionals will perform an in-depth inspection concentrating on the crawl space and the outside of your home.

We will identify the problem(s) and the source of the problem(s).

We will discuss our findings and recommendations with you, while answering all of your questions.

Do I Need an Encapsulation

  • Do you have standing water in your crawl space?
  • Does your home smell musty?
  • Does your home have mold or mildew?
  • Does your home have condensation?
  • Have you noticed new insects or pests inside or outside of your home?
  • Has there been a change to the landscape around your home?

If you answered yes to any of these questions contact us for a FREE crawl space inspection.​

217-347-7500

Integrative Pest Management

The Benefits of Proper Landscaping

Many crawl space issues can be tackled from the outside of the house. For instance maintaining gutters and downspouts can reduce water gathering around the foundation of your home.  We recommend installing a downspout pipe to extend a minimum of 10 feet from the foundation of your home.

Water will always find the path of least resistance. It will flow along the side of you foundation causing erosion and damage to your foundation. In some cases additional topsoil will need to be placed along the foundation to correct these problems. 

Learn more at kieferlandscaping.com

The Benefits of Pest Control

Standing water will attract many pests that can result in damage to your home and your family’s well-being. Some of these pests are mosquitos, fleas, ants, termites, and borers. We carry eco-friendly products to treat mosquitos, fleas and other pests.

For a termite inspection or treatment contact kiefertermitecontrol.com

For all other insects and pests contact flennerpestcontrol.com

The Stack Effect Explained

There is always air movement occurring between your crawl space and house. Even if your floor is insulated, air is still traveling throughout your house. This process is called the stack effect or convection. Warm air in the home rises and is expelled through windows, vents, cracks, and gaps. This causes a vacuum effect sucking in cold air from the crawl space. Air from your crawlspace enters your home along with everything in it including odors, moisture, mold spores, dust, and pests. This can cause a variety of respiratory problems, including allergies, chronic bronchitis, COPD, emphysema and asthma.

Your Crawl Space is Affecting Your Home’s Air Quality

When a crawl space has been left unattended, the moisture content of the air in the crawl space isn’t properly monitored. It’s easy for moisture to develop in a crawl space due to changing temperatures, rainy weather, and lack of vapor barriers. When moisture develops, it paves the way for mold to form in the insulation or wooden joists in your crawl space. This mold and rot releases toxins that seep through your floorboards and into your home. Approximately 40% of the air in your home seeps up through the crawl space. If your crawl space has mold problems so does your home’s air quality. What many people assume is dust sensitivity or an allergic reaction could actually be dangerous toxins seeping up from the home’s crawl space.

Higher Home Energy Bills

Crawl spaces that are not properly maintained allow cold air to enter your home in the winter and humidity to enter your home in the summer. This raises energy bills and puts unnecessary strain on your heating/cooling systems.

Damaged Subfloor & Joists

Moisture that accumulates consistently can easily cause wood rot on joists and subfloors. Moisture will also attract pests such as mosquitos, fleas, and termites, which can cause damage to your home and your family’s health.

Compromised Foundation

The wooden joists that hold up your home’s structure can be damaged by consistent exposure to high levels of moisture, condensation or humidity. In some cases, crawl spaces have flooded, causing serious structural damage.

Benefits of Encapsulation

We understand that protecting your family and your home are your priorities.
You can protect both with a crawl space encapsulation. An encapsulation provides cleaner air and can prevent pests from entering your home. Encapsulation lowers heating and cooling bills, protects your foundation, and can increase your property value.

Want to know more?

LET's talk

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I dry out my crawl space?

A wet crawl space can lead to a variety of health and safety problems in your home. These can include mold, rotted floor joists, and…

Read More...

Should you remove old vapor barrier?

Simply putting vapor barrier down is not enough to solve all the issues that will ever arise in your crawl space. Maintenance…

Read More...

Should I seal my crawl space?

One of the longest debates with crawl spaces is whether to vent or seal a crawl space. Vented spaces work great until…

Read More...

What is the Stack Effect?

There is always air movement occurring between your crawl space and house. Even if your floor is insulated, air is still traveling…

Read More...

Is my crawl space affecting my home?

It’s easy for homeowners to never think of their crawl space. That’s why it’s not uncommon to find disgusting conditions festering beneath…

Read More...

Do you service my area?

We proudly serve the areas of Vandalia, Brownstown, St. Elmo, Altamont, Effingham, Cowden, Shelbyville, Ramsey, Mattoon, Charleston…

Read More...

Why does my house smell musty?

I have a simple answer for you – your crawl space is probably not encapsulated or it isn’t encapsulated properly. However, the root of the…

Read More...

What are the crawl space mistakes?

Home homeowners think they can tackle any project, and while many can, some get in over their heads. This can lead to an expensive problem…

Read More...
EMAIL US TODAY

or click to call us, 217-347-7500

Like and follow us on social

Facebook

the crawl space doctors

3110 S Banker st, Effingham, IL 62401

Should I dry out my crawl space?

A wet crawl space can lead to a variety of health and safety problems in your home. These can include mold, rotted floor joists, and pest invasions. The best way to avoid the headaches caused by these problems is to dry out and seal your crawl space, which can be done in four steps.
We want to stress how much damage a wet crawl space can do. Your crawl space does not need to be flooded or leaking. A wet, damp crawl space can be caused by open vents, a dirt floor, and water vapor. The stack effect can make this a full-blown nightmare. Avoid the nightmare and keep your home safe by keeping everything under your house dry.

Four Steps to a Dry Crawl Space:

  1. Stop water from entering the crawl space.
    – Check your crawl space foundation for cracks to see if they are the water source. If you find any foundation cracks, call in a professional since those could be a sign of a structural problem.
    – Repair any leaks and insulate cold water pipes (this will prevent condensation).
  2. Dry out the crawl space by removing the moisture source and puddles.
    – Check grading, drainage and gutters to make sure they are not contributing to your wet crawl space.
  3. Clean-up the crawl space.
    – Replace wet insulation.
    – Remove debris.
    – Scrub mold off of any surfaces. This is a job that is typically best left to the professionals. Various safety precautions need to be put in place before and during mold removal.
    – Beware of rodent infestations. Rodent droppings can contain harmful bacteria and viruses.
    – If there is asbestos, call in a professional!
  4. Keep moisture out of your crawl space with crawl space encapsulation.
    – Install a sump pump to remove any excess moisture, if needed.
    – Lay a thick, 20 millimeter vapor barrier over the floor and up the wall. Do not cover the vapor barrier with gravel or dirt, it will prevent you from seeing if any new puddles form from a plumbing leak.
    – Install an energy-efficient crawl space dehumidifier to keep the space dry.

Of course, if you aren’t the DIY person, then let us do it for you. Our crawl space doctors can diagnosis and treat your crawl space. Give us a call or shoot us a text at 217-347-7500. Or find us on Facebook.

Back to website

Should you remove old vapor barrier?

Simply putting vapor barrier down is not enough to solve all the issues that will ever arise in your crawl space. Maintenance of the vapor barrier and of the crawl space in general is the other important side of the equation, and it is often overlooked. Without putting any effort into maintaining your crawl space, you’re simply postponing the problem. The problems may not come immediately, but they will still come. Regular maintenance is low cost, and prevents expensive problems in theet’s talk about a few of the problems that could happen if you neglect your crawl space.

Mold

If the seal of your old vapor barrier is compromised, it lets large amounts of water vapor to enter your crawl space from the earth under your home. If this condition continues over a long period of time, the materials in your crawl space will start to absorb moisture. Mold forms when mold spores are carried into your crawl space and land on a moist piece of wood or insulation. Once mold has taken hold, it can be a very expensive problem. Why not give yourself peace of mind by taking measures to ensure that mold cannot grow in the first place?

Creatures

With holes in your vapor barrier, it can be easy for small creatures such as ants, termites, mice, moles, and crickets to enter your crawl space. Of course, larger creatures with claws and teeth are capable of ripping or tearing up through the vapor barrier. While it is still a major problem, having an intact vapor barrier will turn most of them away.

However, vapor barrier is only one line of defense. It’s counterproductive if your crawl space vents are wide open providing entry points for all types of creatures. Once creatures check into a warm crawl space, they often don’t check out. They prefer the shelter of the crawl space to the scary world outside. Crawl space creatures can cause a lot of damage. Insulation under your floor joists often becomes used as warm and fluffy nesting material for raising rats and mice. You can avoid most of these things by having your crawl space encapsulated properly.

Energy Waste

While not directly a problem related to vapor barrier itself, wasted energy is nonetheless a significant problem that can happen in any crawl space that is not encapsulated properly. Did you know that on average about 25% of your conditioned air is lost in the crawl space through gaps in the duct system? If your AC costs are $100 one month, that means that $25 of the $100 is from wasted air. This means that not only are you losing 25% of the air from your home, but that air gets replaced by air from your crawl space, which is often dirty and dusty. To remedy this and start saving your money and improving your indoor air quality, we once again fully encapsulated your crawl space.

Simply having vapor barrier is not a final solution. You should always consider encapsulating. Encapsulating seals the crawl space and drastically reduces the number of pests that are able to enter.

Hopefully this article has convinced you to at least stick your head into your crawl space and take a look at the condition of your vapor barrier. If you’re too afraid to stick your head in – give us a call!

Back to website

Why should you seal your crawl space?

One of the longest debates with crawl spaces is whether to vent or seal a crawl space. Vented crawl spaces worked great until the invention of air conditioning. When a family cools their home to 70° during the summer and the air outside is 85° with a humidity, it creates condensation on floor joist, insulation, pipes, and ducts. No amount of ventilation will solve the problem at this point. This constant condensation during the summer months causes wood rot, mold, and attracts all types of insects and rodents.

The common symptoms of a crawl space moisture problem are:

  • Mold or moisture damage in your crawl space or living area
  • Musty odors in your living area
  • Condensation on insulation or pipes
  • Buckled hardwood floors
  • High humidity in your house
  • Insect infestations

 

Sealing your crawl space creates a clean conditioned space under your home and provides the following benefits:

  • Improves air quality throughout the home
  • Saves you money by keeping heating and cooling cost down
  • Reduces mold and wood decay on floor joist
  • Reduces buckling of hardwood floors
  • Creates warmer floors in the winter
  • Reduces pest and termite pressure
Back to website

The Stack Effect Explained

There is always air movement occurring between your crawl space and house. Even if your floor is insulated, air is still traveling throughout your house. This process is called the stack effect or convection. Warm air in the upper level of your home rises and is expelled through windows, vents, cracks, and gaps. As it rises, air from lower levels, including the crawl space, of your home rushes in to fill the vacuum.

Air from your crawlspace enters your home along with everything in it. Odors, mold spores, and dust mite feces enter your home. This can cause a variety of respiratory problems, including allergies and asthma. Air, often filled with more moisture, gets sucked into the crawl space from the outdoors. In this sense, a poorly designed crawl space acts like a bad air machine.

Back to website

Five Ways Your Crawl Space is Affecting Your House

It’s easy for homeowners to never think of their crawl space. That’s why it’s not uncommon to find disgusting conditions festering beneath their home. Regardless of the length of time you’ve lived in your home, it’s a good idea to consistently inspect your crawl space. Things could be seeping, rotting, or molding right underneath your feet, and without consistent inspections of your crawl space, you would never know. Below is a list of ways that your crawl space is damaging your home and health.

1. Poor Air Quality

When a crawl space has been left unattended, the moisture content of the air in the crawl space isn’t properly monitored. It’s easy for moisture to develop in a crawl space due to changing temperatures, rainy weather, and lack of vapor barriers. When moisture develops, it paves the way for mold to form in the insulation or wooden joists in your crawl space. This mold and rot releases toxins that seep through your floorboards and into your home.

This may be surprising for some homeowners to hear. Some might think that if the mold is under the house, then they will just make sure that no one goes down there and everything will be okay.

However, approximately 40% of the air in your home seeps up through the crawl space. If your crawl space has mold problems so does your home’s air quality. What many people assume is dust sensitivity or allergic reaction could actually be response to dangerous toxins seeping up from the home’s crawl space.

2. High Energy Bills

Crawl spaces that are not properly insulated can allow a significant amount of heat to escape from your home. Cold air can easily ruin all of the time and effort your heating system spends to heat up your home. Without crawl space insulation, homeowners find that they spend high amounts of money heating their home in winter and cooling their home in summer.

Homeowners that install crawl space insulation consistently begin to experience savings on their energy bills right away. Not only does this reduce your home’s carbon footprint, but it also saves you more money in the long run. Your crawl space encapsulation and insulation pays for itself.

3. Rodent Infestations

Despite the fact that your crawl space may be surrounded by a thick layer of foundation, your crawl space may not be as rodent-proof as you may think. Even holes the size of a dime can let rodents inside your crawl space. The last thing you want is a nest of animals claiming your crawl space as their snug little home.

Types of rodents that often infest crawl spaces:

  • possums
  • rats and mice
  • squirrels
  • skunks
  • snakes
  • bats

Rodents like these tend to not leave you with a happy home. Droppings are left behind to fester, which affects air quality inside the home. Not only that, but certain animals, like squirrels, will get curious and start chewing on any exposed electrical wires, ruin insulation, or rip holes in vapor barrier. All in all, the day you discover a rodent infestation is a bad day.

4. Damaged Subfloor

Moisture has other damaging effects on other areas of your home as well. Moisture that accumulates consistently can easily seep through the ceiling of the crawl space and cause problems with your subflooring.

5. Compromised Foundation

Moisture problems can also cause issues for the foundation level of your home. The wooden joists that hold up your home’s structure can be damaged by consistent exposure to high levels of moisture, condensation, or humidity. In some not-so-uncommon cases, crawl spaces have actually flooded, causing significant structural damage that resulted in a lot of repair work.

If you’re interested in crawl space cleaning and insulation services, we’d love to talk with you. You can request a free consultation or give us a call, and we can connect with you about how to solve your crawl space problems.

Back to website

Do you service my area?

We proudly serve the areas of Vandalia, Brownstown, St. Elmo, Altamont, Effingham, Cowden, Shelbyville, Ramsey, Mattoon, Charleston, Neoga, Sigel, Greenup, Casey, Newton, Dieterich, Olney, Flora, Louisville, Farina, Kinmundy, and Clay City. If your area is not listed, then feel free to give us a call at 217-347-7500 to find out if we service your area.

Back to website

Does your house smell musty?

If you answered yes, then I have a simple answer for you – your crawl space is probably not encapsulated or it isn’t encapsulated properly. However, the root of the problem may be harder to find. Below are common reasons that your house might smell musty or foul.

Foreign Objects

Do you see anything in your crawl space that probably shouldn’t be there? Trash? Paint cans? Maybe even items from previous owners? Crawl spaces are a great place to store items, but only when the crawl space is sealed, clean, and odor free.

Rodents or Rodent Droppings

One of the most common problems that happen in crawl spaces that aren’t encapsulated. Mice, squirrels, possums, and other animals find a way into your crawl space. Both, decaying carcasses and fecal matter, will make your home smell.

Mold

Mold happens when moisture is in the air, which can produce a foul smell. Although, not all molds produce smells. However, mold can cause floor joists and other wooden structures to decay, which can produce nasty mildew odors. If you store boxes or other things in your crawl space, it’s a good idea to inspect those items for mold, especially if the air feels humid. If you do spot mold, it’s important to understand the potential health risk. Mold releases harmful toxins, which can affect your respiratory system. If you identify mold, you should contact a contractor and take steps to remove all signs of it immediately.

The Soil Beneath Your Home

If you have a crawl space with unsealed floors and exposed dirt, the dirt may be the source of the bad smell. Soils are naturally full of small organic materials, and as these materials decompose over time, this natural process of decay inevitably emits odors or even odorless radon gas, which can be dangerous. Moisture within the soil is bound to permeate upwards, causing the crawl space to become wet and damp. Water and moisture increase the decay of organic materials and therefore, the problem will persist.

Identifying Smells and Risks in Your Crawl Space

If you own or rent a home with a crawl space, carefully monitor the conditions inside, especially if you start to detect strange smells in your house. Whether you enlist the help of a contractor or inspector or take a look yourself, it’s important to properly identify the cause of the odor and to keep in mind any possible health risks. Being vigilant will help to keep your house smelling fresh and clean, and also protect your family from potential harm.

Back to website

The 3 Worst Crawl Space DIY Mistakes that Homeowners Make

Some homeowners think they can tackle any project, and while many can, some get in over their heads. This can lead to an expensive problem than if they hired a professional from the beginning. Sometimes these mistakes can be fixed quickly, but sometimes the errors can cause a lot of damage to the home.

When it comes to crawl spaces, there are few mistakes that can be particularly destructive. Here are some of the biggest mistakes that a homeowner needs to avoid making in their crawl space.

 

  1. Trying to improve humidity issues with vents.

It can be easy to think that the more vents you have the drier your crawl space will be, but it’s not that simple. Warm, humid air blowing in from outside will actually increase your humidity problem, which will draw the warm, moist air up into your home.

It’s also not safe to add additional vents for foundation reasons. Homeowners have unknowingly compromised the integrity of their homes or damaged important support walls by trying to add ventilation on their own. When it comes to you foundation, just call the pros.

To play it safe, you’ll need a professional to advise you on proper crawl space solutions for your home. Fixing your crawl space is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

 

  1. Installing insulation into an improperly dried crawl space.

This leads to nothing but a costly disaster. When homeowners see that they have a moisture problem, realize they need a vapor barrier and insulation, and decide to do it all themselves, it leads to nothing but an enormous mess. Most homeowners don’t realize this until it’s too late. The moisture becomes trapped and causes mold growth and wood rot.

Some homeowners read about the benefits of spray foam insulation in retarding moisture and creating an air seal. They assume that the moisture will be trapped behind the air seal and prevent further moisture from coming in. However, that’s not the case at all. Those homeowners wound up with rotting wood and mold growth that damaged the integrity of their home as well as their home’s air quality.

If you are hoping to have spray foam insulation installed, or in fact, any insulation installed in your crawl space, then avoid the headache and call the professionals. Professionals are trained to spot any moisture issues, fix them properly, and then insulate your home, making sure mold can’t take over your house and health.

 

  1. Gutter & downspouts too close to your house.

DIY gutter and downspout installs aren’t strictly a crawl space issue, but it’s important to note the significance if they aren’t properly installed. Gutters and downspouts are designed to collect water and distribute it away from your house. They help prevent flooding and protect your house overall from structural problems like mold and rotting. If gutters and downspouts are installed correctly or even if they don’t carry water far enough away from the house, then moisture will leak into your crawl space, which makes for a big mess. Keeping your gutters cleaned is important to prevent clogged gutters from overflowing. If you don’t like cleaning your gutters, I suggest getting gutter guards. Gutter guards prevent leaves and other debris to get inside the gutters. As for the downspouts, they should be at least a good 10 feet away from your house to prevent water from getting into your house or crawl space.

Before you decide to tackle a DIY project, take a moment and think whether this one should be handled by the professionals. In many crawl space instances, the answer is yes. If you need a professional to tackle any of your crawl space issues, give us a call at 217-347-7500.

Back to website