The crawl space is only under the family room of our home and I'm beginning
to have a dampness problem. I have corrected the downspout which exited too
close to the house. The lawn has no grade away from the house and short of
having a swale cut (I'm considering it) there is no way to achieve a
gradient. So anyway, I've thought that I'd lay 6 mil poly in the crawl
space but I think that vents will be a good idea. The problem here is that
the ground level is just a couple of inches from ground level. The siding
is only 2" of the ground. Should I dig wells and install vents or is
covering the dirt enough?
TIA,
Chuck

On Jul 29, 10:54 pm, "C & E" wrote:
The crawl space is only under the family room of our home and I'm beginning
to have a dampness problem. I have corrected the downspout which exited too
close to the house. The lawn has no grade away from the house and short of
having a swale cut (I'm considering it) there is no way to achieve a
gradient. So anyway, I've thought that I'd lay 6 mil poly in the crawl
space but I think that vents will be a good idea. The problem here is that
the ground level is just a couple of inches from ground level. The siding
is only 2" of the ground. Should I dig wells and install vents or is
covering the dirt enough?
TIA,
Chuck

If you are 'begining to have a dampness problem', something has
changed.
What changed?
What kind of 'dampness problem' is there?

Installing a vapor barrier will reduce the amount of moisture rising
from the earth.
It will not solve a high water table or surface run-off.
Siding within 2" of grade with a flat yard is not a good idea.
T

On Jul 30, 5:36 am, " wrote:
On Jul 29, 10:54 pm, "C & E" wrote:

The crawl space is only under the family room of our home and I'm beginning
to have a dampness problem. I have corrected the downspout which exited too
close to the house. The lawn has no grade away from the house and short of
having a swale cut (I'm considering it) there is no way to achieve a
gradient. So anyway, I've thought that I'd lay 6 mil poly in the crawl
space but I think that vents will be a good idea. The problem here is that
the ground level is just a couple of inches from ground level. The siding
is only 2" of the ground. Should I dig wells and install vents or is
covering the dirt enough?
TIA,
Chuck

If you are 'begining to have a dampness problem', something has
changed.
What changed?
What kind of 'dampness problem' is there?

Installing a vapor barrier will reduce the amount of moisture rising
from the earth.
It will not solve a high water table or surface run-off.
Siding within 2" of grade with a flat yard is not a good idea.
T

Why did you ever buy in the first place? Remember to always look at
drainage and tree root growth is two important actors in buying.
Having crawl space beneath floors is a good idea also. Which means
stay away from slab floors. They are100% sure to let in termites
sooner or later.

wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 29, 10:54 pm, "C & E" wrote:
The crawl space is only under the family room of our home and I'm
beginning
to have a dampness problem.

snip

TIA,
Chuck

If you are 'begining to have a dampness problem', something has
changed.
What changed?
What kind of 'dampness problem' is there?

Installing a vapor barrier will reduce the amount of moisture rising
from the earth.
It will not solve a high water table or surface run-off.
Siding within 2" of grade with a flat yard is not a good idea.
T

I can't be sure but there is a growing mold problem as well. Not too bad
but increasing very slowly over the 20 years that we've been here. The
downspouts have been in the same location since day one. Something in the
subsoil perhaps.

Jack wrote:

Having crawl space beneath floors is a good idea also. Which means stay
away from slab floors. They are100% sure to let in termites sooner or
later.

In my experience, crawlspaces are termite magnets. I've seen many houses
with sistered floor joists.

I'd much prefer a slab to a crawlspace. But a basement is better than
either of them.

--
Tony Sivori