Cold Floors above my Crawl Space

Have you ever wondered why your feet freeze to your bathroom floor? If you live in an older home, have you ever felt a cold draft come up through you hardwood flooring? Did you install carpet over your hardwood floors because they were too cold in the winter? Ever wonder why your floors above your crawlspace are so cold in the winter? At this point you are probably expecting an answer on how to fix your cold floors. The answer IS NOT what you are expecting. DO NOT insulate your floor. Keep reading, it gets better.

Your crawlspace is vented to the outside air, and in the winter (in the north anyways) the outside air is very cold. In the North, a homeowner is “supposed” to close his vents in the winter. Many homeowners do not know they are supposed to close their vents or they just simply forget. If the vents are not closed, freezing cold air will enter the crawl space and work against the heating system all winter long. This will cause the floors to reach arctic temperatures. Even if you close your vents, you are still drafting a lot of cold air through them. The vent is just a thin sheet of metal overlapping one another. There is not a foundation vent on the market that seals completely and none of them are insulated.

So what is a homeowner to do? You have several options. If you are a smart, energy conscious homeowner, you will seal off the outside air, insulate your vents, and encapsulate your crawlspace. This can provide energy savings of up to 10%-20%, not to mention bring your floors to a comfortable temperature. Encapsulation also will dry out your floor framing, help prevent bug infestations, and improve indoor air quality. See my post “How to insulate crawlspaces – Encapsulate and Condition” for more information.

The most common but INCORRECT method has been to install fiberglass insulation in the floor. Fiberglass insulation will sweat in the summer and absorb all of the moisture that is in the air of the crawlspace. When the insulation is wet, it has no insulating value. This insulation will also cause mold to grow and wood to rot. See my post “Do not use fiberglass insulation in crawlspaces” for more reasons why.

If you are looking for a cheaper and effective insulation method, you could install 2” rigid foam board along the crawlspace perimeter walls and CLOSE your vents in the winter (like you were supposed to). Just know, this IS NOT the PERMANENT SOLUTION. The only permanent solution to cold floors is to encapsulate the crawl space. We can install the foam board as a first step toward encapsulation.

For more information on preventing cold floors above your crawlspace, visit the Crawslpace Encapsulation page on our website or for a FREE EVALUATION call us at 1-877-409-2837.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

7 steps to a Dry a Damp, Wet Crawlspace

A wet or damp crawlspace is never an easy situation. Luckily, we have compiled some steps to help the average homeowner bring your home environment into comfort, security and compliance. The steps are a general rule, but your crawlspace may require only some or all of the steps to achieve a dry, healthy crawl space.

1. Downspout Extensions
2. Sump Pit and Pump Installed
3. Internal Perimeter Drainage Installed
4. Vapor Barrier Installed
5. AmeriBrite Encapsulation Installed
6. Crawlspace Conditioning
7. Dehumidification

To view this detailed plan of this 7 step process - Click Below
7 steps to a dry, healthy Crawl Space

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph

5 Great Home Repair Tutorial Sites

Guest post by Mary E. Ward

Completing home repair and remodeling projects yourself is a great way to save money. And, though most of us don’t have a lot of home repair knowledge when we purchase our first home, there are many ways to gain that knowledge over the years. Tackling a project for the first time can be a little overwhelming. But, luckily, in the last few years we’ve seen a great jump in the number of resources available to help us learn how to do many different types of home repairs. One of the best resources for learning how to tackle new projects is tutorials. Many websites offer step by step instructions for a wide variety of projects. You can print the tutorials out and keep them right by your side as you work. Here are some of the best sites to find home repair tutorials.

1. HGTV –HGTV has become a favorite source for all homeowners. But, did you know that you can find step by step tutorials for nearly every project you’ve seen completed on television? And, even if you haven’t seen them do it on HGTV, there may well be step by step instructions on their site. Their site is one of the best for instructions on decorating projects, such as faux finishes, revamping furniture pieces and creating your own art.
2. DIY – Another great home television network has a wide variety of step by step tutorials. Simply go to the area of the home where your project lies and you’ll find all the project tutorials available for that area of the home. I like the tutorials on this site because the pictures are really good.
3. This Old House – This show was likely the first home repair show, before there were channels dedicated to the home. Their site offers lots of tutorials with very clear, easy to follow instructions. Their tutorials also give you an estimate of the cost of the materials for the project and the amount of time you’ll spend.
4. Easy2DIY – This site offers a wide variety of tutorials on many different types of projects. You’ll find a handy calculator that helps you determine how much paint to buy based on the size of your room along with step by step instructions on everything from installing a disposer to laying a brick walkway. This site also offers great product demonstrations on tools you’ll need to get home repair jobs done.
5. Dummies.com – A site based on the “for dummies” book series, this site offers step by step instructions on many types of home repair, remodeling and basic home maintenance. Whether you need to seal concrete or fix a squeaky hardwood floor, you can find good instructions, with pictures on this site.
   

As anyone who owns a home knows, there’s always some project we need to undertake. But, with the number of tutorials available online to give us step by step instructions on how to complete our projects, there’s simply no longer an excuse for putting off one of those important projects.


Mary E. Ward blogs about how to study at the top construction management schools.

Sagging Floors above a crawl space

While the only true way to know why the floors above your crawlspace are sagging or sinking is to have it professionally inspected, I am going to outline a couple of the most common problems I see out in the field.

1. Floors are bouncy - This usually is noticed when walking across a floor, you feel the floor shake or you see cabinets start to shake or make noise as you walk. This is usually a sign that the floor joists are under-sized or over spanned from the beam to the outside wall, or the floor joists are damaged from wood rot or termite damage. In either case, additional beam support is needed in the middle of the floor joist span to properly support the floor.
2. Floors are sloping to the center of home - This is usually noticed when you walk from an outside wall to the center of the house. To know for sure, drop a marble along the outside wall and see if it rolls to the middle of the house. This is the result of some type of support problem with the center beam. The support columns or piers could have settled. The shims between the beam and column could have deteriorated or the beam itself could be deteriorating. Irregardless of the reason, the problem can be fixed. The beam can be raised and restored back to it's original position. This may requre a new beam, new piers, or new shims.
   
3. Floors are separating from baseboard trim - While this can occur along any wall, the most common occurrence will be along the exterior perimeter walls. On the outside walls, this is most always a problem with the sill plate. Another sign of a problem is with windows and outside doors sticking. The sill plate or the end of the joist sitting on the plate is most likely rotting or damaged by termites. The most common repair would be to replace or sister the joist, lift the home, and replace the sill plate. This will usually always bring the home to it's original position and snug the floor up to the trim.
   
4. Floors are wavy. - Unfortunately, this could possibly be several different problems. If you're lucky, it might only be that the center beam is over spanned between support piers causing it to sag up and down throughout the center of the home. This can be addressed by adding additional support piers or columns. On some occasions, the floor joists could be installed incorrectly with the crown of the joist up on one joist and down on the next. A couple of the joist could have had a knot in them and are now cracked causing a few of them to sag. Irregardless of whats causing this, we can repair your floors and bring them to their original position.

Most of these problems stated above are seen in homes built with conventional building standards over the past 50 years. Most of the problems and solutions above are related to the failure of the wood framing. In some cases, the foundation could be settling or sinking which requires a whole different type of solution. In homes 80 years or older, different techniques and solutions may be required to support the floor. Also in older homes, the floors might not have been built "level" to begin with. Having said all this, DO NOT ATTEMPT to fix your floors without a clear understanding of what is causing them to fail. Call an expert to give you a free evaulation and estimate. Give us a call @ 1-877-409-2837 for all your floor support needs.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

In the Johnson County Fair in Indiana

From July 19th-25th, come visit us at our booth at Johnson County Fair in Indiana. Stop by the American Basement Solution's booth with any of your basement, crawlspace, and foundation questions. Our booth is educating the public on how we can help them have a drier, cleaner, healthier, more energy efficient home. For maps to the Johnson County Fairgrounds, click here. Visit the fairgrounds website for more information on all of the activities.

Visit us at the Hendricks County Fair in Indiana

From July 18th-25th, come visit us at our booth at the fairgrounds of Hendricks County Fair in Indiana. Stop by the American Basement Solution's booth with any of your basement, crawlspace, and foundation questions. Our booth is educating the public on how we can help them have a drier, cleaner, healthier, more energy efficient home. The Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds is located at the intersection of county road 200 east and east main street (aka Old US 36), across from the Danville post office. Visit the fairgrounds website for more information on all of the activities.

Chimney Leaning away from house

If your chimney is pulling away from your home, there are things you should consider before deciding on how to repair your leaning chimney. Your chimney is most likely the heaviest portion per square foot of your home. The depth, width, and type of footing that the chimney sits on will vary based upon location and the builder. Most footings should be connected into the home's foundation, but some are not. So, when a house is built on expansive or unstable clay soils, the first part of the foundation to settle is typically the footing under the chimney. As a chimney settles, it starts to tilt away from the house. To determine the amount of settlement, one can look at the gap between the chimney and the house. It is usually greater at the top and smaller at the bottom.

When the chimney footing is sinking, it not only decreases the value of your home, it also creates a serious safety hazard. The weight of a chimney can cause faster settlement, and the problem usually becomes worse. There are many methods of repair, but only one is cost effective and a permanent solution.

Leaning Chimney Repair Methods

If you look to hire a contractor to fix your leaning chimney, you will probably hear several differing opinions. A contractor might tell you he will strap the chimney to the house with cables or steel straps to hold the chimney in place. This might sound good, but it is not. This does not address the problem of the footing settling, and will only result in the roof or framing structure "racking" towards the chimney. Some contractors will want to tear the whole thing down and build a new one. This is expensive, takes a long time, and is very invasive. It's also completely unnecessary.

The right contractor will address the actual problem and provide a solution of driving steel piers into the earth until adequate soil density is reached. Steel piers are minimally invasive. It's always cheaper to install steel piers than to rebuild a chimney. While it varies depending on your structure, usually chimney repairs with steel piers take a day or two.

If you need chimney repair due to a cracked, falling, or leaning chimney, please visit our Foundation Repair section on our website, or call us @ 877-409-2837.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a foundation inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

How to have a dry basement

Are you tired of waking up at night during the rain and worrying about your wet basement? Do you panic when you are on vacation and you hear that back home there was a storm? Are you tired of squeegeeing water over to your sump at 3 in the morning? Is your back in pain from emptying all of those buckets of water from the dehumidifier? Are you embarrassed to bring anyone into your basement because of the smell? Do not fear any longer, you can achieve a dry basement.....

So you want to know how to have a dry basement. The answer really depends on your individual home, layout, grading, soil type, foundation type, etc... There is not just a "one size fits all" approach to basement waterproofing, so trying to explain how you can dry your basement without seeing your home would be pointless. The amount of useless information on how to dry a basement on the internet is staggering. A professional should come to your home to inform you of the source of your water problem and give you a solution to remedy your basement of water. I am going to refer to our basement waterproofing site for the most common approach for most basements, but note that your basement might require something more or something less depending on all of the factors above. If you would like to explain your wet basement problem and have a professional respond, please visit our forum or leave a comment below.

If you live in Indiana, Western Ohio, Northern Kentucky, or Eastern Illinois, give us a call @ 1-877-409-2837 for a free evaluation. Don't worry, we will not send out a sleazy, high pressure salesman that will promise you the world. Our inspectors evaluate your basement's problems, and give you a written plan to solve your wet basement problems. No gimmicks, just a free evaluation and permanent solution. Give us a call today or visit our website @ www.americanbasementsolutions.com.

Thanks for reading the thoughts of a basement inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

Peeling, Bubbling paint on basement walls

Bubbling or peeling paint on basement foundation walls is usually a sign of a drainage problem in the home. The bubbling means that the vapor pressure of the moisture is exceeding the adhesion strength of the paint/sealer you applied. Basically, built up moisture in the wall is trying to push out of the foundation wall and bubbling the paint or sealer. The basement wall could be experiencing "blistering" or "efflorescence" or a combination of both. Blistering can be caused by trapped moisture trying to escape through the paint, and efflorescence is the crusty white salt deposits leached from the masonry or mortar as moisture passes through. In both cases the first part of the solution requires the elimination of moisture sources on both sides of your wall.

The elimination of moisture is different for every home. Some homes just need downspout extensions, some need proper grading of the lawn, some need external lawn drainage, and many need internal basement drainage systems to drain the hollow block foundation wall of water trapped inside of it. If you are unsure of the source of moisture and need help eliminating the vapor pressure of moisture on your basement walls, give us a call @ 1-877-409-2837 and setup an Free evaluation with one of our trained, certified inspectors. You can visit our website @ www.americanbasementsolutions.com If you have a specific question, send us an email, or leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a basement inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

Puddles of water in crawl space

Many homeowners are unaware of the amount of water that puddles or floods their crawl space after heavy rains. Before many crawlspace inspections, I seem to get the same response, "I've never seen any water standing down there, only dampness". When I explain to them that I saw pooling and puddling of water or signs of water in their crawlspace, they seem to remember an occasion when it might have had a couple of puddles. Typically, they completely forget about that one time they saw water because they didn't think it was a problem or they only seen puddles on one occasion.

Many homeowners are unable to inspect their crawlspace themselves, so they rely on plumbers, HVAC, Pest Control Operators, contractors, family, and friends to go down there and look for them. Since this might only happen once a year or more, there might not be any standing water down there at that time. To really know if a crawlspace has a water problem, one needs to inspect their crawlspace immediately following a 3" or more rain. Since they can't inspect that soon after a rain, the homeowner is left with an inaccurate assessment of their crawlspace.

The reason a homeowner should inspect their crawlspace immediately after a hard rain is because the water might not puddle or pool very long if they have a porous soil. Water can disguise itself under 6" of pea gravel backfill or sand, so a homeowner needs to pull back the gravel or sand to inspect properly. Water in some crawls might puddle for hours, days, weeks, or even months. It really depends on the soil and the water table.

Regardless of how long the water stands, any water even for a couple of hours is harmful to the environment of the home. The water will typically saturate the entire ground floor even after it recedes back into the ground. The dampness of the soil after the water recedes will try to evaporate into the atmosphere. A vapor barrier is typically installed to block some of the moisture from evaporating, but even a vapor barrier does not block moisture seeping up from the outside perimeter(where the water comes in) or from the seams of the plastic. If a vapor barrier is installed and water pools up under it, the water will run on top of the plastic. When water pools on top of the vapor barrier, then all of the water must evaporate into the structural components of the crawlspace. The evaporation of moisture into the structural components can lead to mold growth and wood decay. See my post on wood rot for more info on the harmful effects of excess moisture in a crawlspace. In the picture above you can start to see the damage done to the beam by the puddles of water.

The only remedy to puddling or pooling water in a crawlspace is a properly installed drainage system and encapsulation system. For more information on installing a drainage system or encapsulation system in your crawlspace, visit our website @ www.americanbasementsolutions.com/crawlspace-repair.html or call us at 1-877-409-2837.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

Center Beam Rot Damage in Crawlspace

This is a picture of a center beam "girder" that is rotting and sinking down over the block pier columns. This is about an 1 1/2" drop over the pier and closer to a 2 1/2" settlement in between the piers where the beam is sagging. The homeowner first noticed the problem several years ago when the baseboard trim started to separate from the floor. The problem gradually worsened as the doors began to stick and not close properly, and the drywall began to crack above the doorways and along the ceiling of the hallway. You might be wondering why this happened.

In crawlspaces, excess moisture from groundwater leakage, ground moisture, and outside ventilation leads to mold growth. Most wood decay fungi grow only on wood with a high moisture content, usually 20 percent or above. Decay fungi are living organisms which send minute threads called "hyphae" through damp wood, taking their food from the wood as they grow. Gradually, the wood is decomposed and its strength is lost. Such damage is often inconspicuous until its final stages, and in a few instances homeowners have suddenly found floors breaking through or major settlement in the floor structure. The only method of prevention is to dry the crawlspace and lower the moisture content in the wood.

Repairing the center beam of a home is NOT a do it yourself project. There are many things to consider when replacing a center beam, and there are certain risks that can be devastating if proper procedures are not performed. Many people have been injured badly by jack posts kicking out and similar support devices failing. Please consider the savings of a couple hundred dollars that may cost your life or your home. The installation usually involves installing temporary sectional beams right along side of the original failing beam. The temporary beams should be lifted just enough to relax the original center beam so that it can be removed and a new one can be installed in it's place. I have seen many repairs of scabbing a new 2X10 on both sides of the beam and sandwiching them together with anchor bolts. This repair might help in the prevention of further settlement, but IT WILL NOT bring the home to it's proper position. It is like a band-aid on an serious injury. Please give us a call 1-877-409-2837 for a FREE ESTIMATE on replacing your center beam or visit our website at www.americanbasementsolutions.com.

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.

Subwoofer speakers in crawlspace - Infinite Baffle system

I've seen alot of different things in crawlspaces over the years, but this would have to be a first. Suprisingly after doing a little research, these infinite baffle subwoofer systems are becoming quite popular. Many people are utilizing their attics, cellars, basements, and crawlspaces to install these subwoofer systems.

The homeowner gave me some informational links on the system. Here are some good Audio/Video forums if you are interested. The first one is almost entirely for infinite baffle sub setups.

http://ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/

The reason we were called out was to help with the moisture problem in the crawlspace. The homeowner was concerned with ground moisture and outside ventilation damaging his subwoofer system. This is just another reason why a crawlspace should be encapsulated!

If you are in need to dry your crawlspace to install an infinite baffle system, give us a call @ 1-877-409-2837 or visit our website: www.americanbasementsolutions.com

Thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a crawlspace inspector,
Larry Ralph Jr.