Most homeowners rarely want to visit their crawl spaces, let alone clean them. So they end up with musty, dirty, pest-infested, and unusable spaces. Sooner or later the effects get to the living space above, turning a once livable and breathable home into a less habitable environment. When you consider all the problems that come with a dirty crawl space, it makes sense to clean yours routinely.
1) Eliminates Dampness
Your crawl space is prone to moisture damage and water damage. Whenever it rains, water can enter this space and stagnate, causing dampness and high moisture levels. You know too well the destructive nature of water in the crawl space. After cleaning, you can keep moisture and water out by using an encapsulation system, which creates a vapor barrier around this space.
2) Discourages Pests and Insects
Other than causing mold, a damp and dark crawl makes the perfect home for pests, rodents and insects. They can breed quickly and infest the crawl space because they have water and no one to bother them. The problem is that pests and insects are not just a nuisance, they’re a health hazard too. Besides entering your home and chewing your clothing and furniture, they can leave droppings that may contaminate your food and water. Routine cleaning helps you remove debris (their nesting ground) and damp conditions that attract them to your crawl space.
3) Improves Indoor Air Quality
Up to 60% of the air that circulates in your home originates from the crawl space, so it’s important to keep your crawl space clean to boost the quality of indoor air. Cleaning removes dust, insect and pest droppings, mold, damaged drain lines and other factors that reduce the quality of the air you breathe. This means fewer allergic reactions and respiratory problems for your loved ones.
4) Minimizes Strange Odors
No matter how many air fresheners you use in a week, your home will still smell awful if the source of odors is the crawl space beneath your home. Cleaning is the only lasting remedy for this problem. A clean crawl space means no musty, strange, and unpleasant smell to irritate your nostrils.
5) Increases Your Energy Savings
Cleaning and waterproofing your crawl space will make your home more energy-efficient. Sealing locks out untreated cold air from entering your home, keeping your air dry in summer and floors warmer in winter. You won’t have to run your heater for long hours to warm your home or keep it cool. This can translate into 15-25% energy savings in a month.
6) Makes Repairs Easy
Depending on the structure and layout of your home, your crawl space may have plumbing, wiring and ducts running through it. Any of these fixtures can develop problems, meaning your technician will have to go down and fix them. If they have trouble accessing this space because it’s dirty or debris-filled, repairs will go on at a snail’s pace. Cleaning your crawl space will make it easy for the repair crew to inspect your installation, troubleshoot the problem and fix it.
7) Fewer Maintenance Costs
Since there’s no mold to contaminate your home, termites to munch your beams, or moisture to corrode your plumbing after encapsulation, you can expect fewer repairs and in turn, little to no repair expense. Your fixtures and installation will remain in good condition for many years to come.
8) Clean Storage Space
Another benefit of cleaning your crawl space is you create extra storage space for your old clothing, damaged furniture or obsolete appliances. You can move all these and other things that take space in your home before you decide what to do with them.
9) Lasting peace
Crawl space cleaning gives you total peace of mind, which is priceless. After all, there’s no moisture to trigger mold growth, mold spores to cause allergies, gnawing pests to trouble you or moisture to erode your ducts and plumbing. Since your underlying structures will remain strong, you’re also going to worry less about whether beams and joists can support your home.
10) Protect structural integrity
Stagnant water and high moisture levels not only cause mold issues in the crawl space, but they also threaten the structural integrity of your home. Mold can trigger wood rot, usually the main material that forms the support beams in your crawl space, making it easier for termites to complete the destruction. Termites love chewing deteriorating wood as it supplies them with water and allows them to burrow easily and lay eggs. Water can cause cracks on the foundation walls and plumbing to rust too. By cleaning your crawl space, you can preserve the strength of the underlying structures.
Looking for a basement repair contractor to inspect your crawl space before you commence repairs? First, clean up your crawl space, then arrange an inspection to uncover issues and find solutions to your problems.
