Crawlspace question
 

Note: This is NOT a question about how to insulate the crawlspace mentioned
below. I already know what needs to be done there in the spring when I rip
out the floor.

Onward:
45 yr old ranch. The whole thing's over a full basement except for a 10x8
part of the kitchen that's over a crawlspace. Who knows why - maybe it made
the house cheaper to not extend the basement. Anyway, the only openings to
the crawlspace are two 8" x 24" rectangular cutouts in the wood supporting
the house. Just small enough to be useless. But, they're open to the
basement and cold air's pouring in.

Bought the place last September. It's well maintained, except I keep finding
little things that make me wonder why nobody dealt with them before. For
instance, there's no fiberglass batting stuck up between the rafters at
edges of the basement. What I'm wondering, though, is if there's a good
reason for those crawlspace gaps to be left open. Maybe to prevent moisture
buildup in the space? Peering in with a flashlight, I can see that there's
no plastic over the bare earth, no insulation of any kind (which is why I'll
be attacking it in the spring).

I'm not trying to heat the basement, but it can't be good for the house in
general to have that cold air coming in from the crawlspace. Any reason to
leave them open?

Hmmmmmmm

If you seal it up, then the decay from all the dead bodies buried by
the previous owner will become too obvious?

"Matt" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hmmmmmmm

If you seal it up, then the decay from all the dead bodies buried by
the previous owner will become too obvious?


Possible, but I wonder why he'd do that? The house is 30 seconds from a
large body of water. :-)

Doug Kanter wrote:
Note: This is NOT a question about how to insulate the crawlspace mentioned
below. I already know what needs to be done there in the spring when I rip
out the floor.

Onward:
45 yr old ranch. The whole thing's over a full basement except for a 10x8
part of the kitchen that's over a crawlspace. Who knows why - maybe it made
the house cheaper to not extend the basement. Anyway, the only openings to
the crawlspace are two 8" x 24" rectangular cutouts in the wood supporting
the house. Just small enough to be useless. But, they're open to the
basement and cold air's pouring in.

Bought the place last September. It's well maintained, except I keep finding
little things that make me wonder why nobody dealt with them before. For
instance, there's no fiberglass batting stuck up between the rafters at
edges of the basement. What I'm wondering, though, is if there's a good
reason for those crawlspace gaps to be left open. Maybe to prevent moisture
buildup in the space? Peering in with a flashlight, I can see that there's
no plastic over the bare earth, no insulation of any kind (which is why I'll
be attacking it in the spring).

I'm not trying to heat the basement, but it can't be good for the house in
general to have that cold air coming in from the crawlspace. Any reason to
leave them open?



If you aren't worried about freezing pipes (not that cold)
in the crawlspace this winter, I tape plastic over the
holes. Then get it fixed in the summer. Sounds like this
is an opportunity to extend the basement, depending on how
the house above the crawl space is supported.

I think you got it right, you need air circulation in the space to reduce
moisture.
Ron

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Note: This is NOT a question about how to insulate the crawlspace
mentioned
below. I already know what needs to be done there in the spring when I rip
out the floor.

Onward:
45 yr old ranch. The whole thing's over a full basement except for a 10x8
part of the kitchen that's over a crawlspace. Who knows why - maybe it
made
the house cheaper to not extend the basement. Anyway, the only openings to
the crawlspace are two 8" x 24" rectangular cutouts in the wood supporting
the house. Just small enough to be useless. But, they're open to the
basement and cold air's pouring in.

Bought the place last September. It's well maintained, except I keep
finding
little things that make me wonder why nobody dealt with them before. For
instance, there's no fiberglass batting stuck up between the rafters at
edges of the basement. What I'm wondering, though, is if there's a good
reason for those crawlspace gaps to be left open. Maybe to prevent
moisture
buildup in the space? Peering in with a flashlight, I can see that there's
no plastic over the bare earth, no insulation of any kind (which is why
I'll
be attacking it in the spring).

I'm not trying to heat the basement, but it can't be good for the house in
general to have that cold air coming in from the crawlspace. Any reason to
leave them open?

put a vapor barrier plastic sheets down over the bare earth and add
some ventilation
in the crawl space to the outside, then seal it from the rest of the
basement (in a way that you can open it for service access).

Mark

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
put a vapor barrier plastic sheets down over the bare earth and add
some ventilation
in the crawl space to the outside, then seal it from the rest of the
basement (in a way that you can open it for service access).

Mark


That's what I'm going to do in the spring, but I can't access it through the
small holes. The entire kitchen floor is in bad shape (some sort of
linoleum). So, my plan is to rip it out, and in the 1/3 of the room that's
over the crawlspace, take out the floorboards, too, giving me total access
to the bare earth.

There are no pipes in or near the crawlspace area. I want to believe (?) I'm
not risking much if I close the two access holes for 3-4 months.

Doug Kanter wrote:
"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...

put a vapor barrier plastic sheets down over the bare earth and add
some ventilation
in the crawl space to the outside, then seal it from the rest of the
basement (in a way that you can open it for service access).

Mark



That's what I'm going to do in the spring, but I can't access it through the
small holes. The entire kitchen floor is in bad shape (some sort of
linoleum). So, my plan is to rip it out, and in the 1/3 of the room that's
over the crawlspace, take out the floorboards, too, giving me total access
to the bare earth.

There are no pipes in or near the crawlspace area. I want to believe (?) I'm
not risking much if I close the two access holes for 3-4 months.


You're not risking anything. The standard procedure for
crawl spaces in cold areas is to close the foundation vents
in the winter. And they make vent closures that are not
only tight, but insulated as well. If the walls around that
craw space are tight, I'm not sure why you have cold air
pouring through the two slots to the basement. Nonetheless,
closing off those two slots to reduce air movement would
likely make the crawl space warmer. Moisture in the crawl
space is not normally a problem in winter.