Why You Need a Crawl Space Dehumidifier

When it comes to protecting your crawl space from unwanted damage, there are a few different solutions available to you. If you have standing water in your crawl space, for example, you may want to invest in a heavier-duty waterproofing measure—but then again, only after you’ve worked with a contractor to patch up the leak or crack allowing moisture into your home. Some of the best home waterproofing measures include:  

• Sump pumps  
• Interior drains  
• Full encapsulation with a vapor barrier 
• Waterproof insulation  

When Can Dehumidifiers Help Your Home?  

In some situations, however, a dehumidifier can help you better control the level of moisture entering your home. If you’re dealing with high levels of humidity, or if you want to get ahead of the kind of damage that can compromise your home’s structural integrity, then you can install a dehumidifier in your crawl space.   

Provided that you’ve fitted your dehumidifier to your crawl space, this unit can pull pints of water out of the air on a daily basis, preventing the growth of mold and the development of wood rot all the while.  

Covering All the Bases  

Note that dehumidifiers on their own may not always serve as perfect waterproofing solutions. You may also want to pair your dehumidifier with a vapor barrier and interior drainage if you want it to work more effectively. When paired with other home waterproofing measures, dehumidifiers live longer and tend to protect your sensitive crawl space more effectively.  

Of course, dehumidifiers and other crawl space waterproofing measures are only effective when you’ve properly attended to the damage that’s allowing moisture into your home. When in doubt, reach out to a professional contractor in your area to determine whether your home requires additional repairs before you install your dehumidifier.

While high levels of humidity in your crawl space can lead to damage, humidity isn’t always bad. You need to maintain a consistent level of humidity throughout your crawl space if you want to create a healthy environment throughout the rest of your home. 

Maintaining a Healthy Level of Humidity 

Don’t try to suck all the moisture out of your crawl space, though. While limiting the amount of moisture that makes its way into your crawl space is a good thing, eliminating it entirely can cause your unprotected wooden supports and exposed concrete to become brittle. 

Instead, set your dehumidifier to 40-50 percent humidity. This level of humidity will keep the materials in your crawl space hydrated without providing wood rot or mold the dampness they need to start growing. 

Adjusting Your Humidity as Necessary 

You’ll know something is wrong in your crawl space when you can’t maintain a consistent level of internal humidity, even with a dehumidifier. If you notice your humidity levels starting to rise, then you may have a crack or leak somewhere in your crawl space. 

Identifying this damage takes a bit of time, especially if you don’t have professional experience backing you up. Some leaks can send moisture into your home from your foundation, while other times the pipes in your crawl space may be the source of your damage. If you notice the levels of humidity in your crawl space rising, reach out to the professional contractors in your area for guidance. With a little bit of work, you should be able to lower your humidity back into a safe range, near 50 percent.

You do not want to use a typical home dehumidifier to protect your crawl space from moisture 

damage. These types of dehumidifiers are not powerful enough to remove incessant moisture from your crawl space, nor are they designed for standard crawl space conditions. Instead, if you are interested in installing a dehumidifier, talk to area professionals about the dehumidifiers that may better serve your home. 

Taking on Damage Before Installing a Dehumidifier  

Commercial dehumidifiers are rarely strong enough to protect your crawl space from unwanted moisture. Our teams do not recommend using these types of dehumidifiers even as temporary waterproofing measures due both to their ineffective nature and due to the damage they can take on trying to clear out your crawl space. 

If you want to try and protect your crawl space from additional damage before installing a non-commercial dehumidifier, you have a few options available to you. Ideally, you’ll want to work with the professionals in your area to repair any cracks or leaks that you’ve found in the space. If you try to implement any waterproofing measures before investing in these types of repairs, you can damage those measures and limit their lifespans. 

Pairing Your Dehumidifier with Other Waterproofing Solutions 

As mentioned, typical home dehumidifiers cannot help you entirely control the moisture in your crawl space. If you do install a non-commercial dehumidifier in your crawl space, though, you may still want to pair it with additional home waterproofing measures like a moisture barrier or encapsulation. These measures limit how the humidity is getting into the crawl space. 

Some of the best waterproofing measures to pair with a non-commercial dehumidifier include: 

• Vapor barriers – thick, plastic-like material placed over the walls and floor in your crawl space to keep water, moisture, and most gases out of your home. 
• Interior drains – drains that intercept leaking water before it reaches the rest of your crawl space will help keep it dry and free of damage. These work best when paired with a sump pump. 
• Sump pumps – these appliances are essential in preventing leaking and flooding in your crawl space. Any water intercepted by the interior drainage system will be directed to drain into the sump pump system so it can be properly removed from the crawl space and away from the home.

When you start looking for a dehumidifier to place in your crawl space, you’ll want to know that you’ve invested in a system that can not only pull moisture from the air but that can work with any other waterproofing measures you have in place to reduce the risk of mold and structural damage throughout your home.  

Size Does Matter  

You’ll also want to take this time to determine how powerful you want your dehumidifier to be. The options provided by JES Foundation Repair work well in smaller crawl spaces. If you live in an area that sees a significant amount of rain over the course of a month, however, that you may need heavier waterproofing measures to ensure your crawl space doesn’t get so humid in the first place. 

Function is Important 

Typical dehumidifiers have buckets or reservoirs of the collected moisture that need to be emptied regularly. If you rarely go into your crawl space, this can be problematic. That’s why it’s important to have a unit that you can essentially “set and forget.” The dehumidifiers installed by JES Foundation 

Repair are self-draining and can be directed to drain into a sump pump or condensate pump. 

If you’re not sure where to start when shopping for a dehumidifier, you can collaborate with a professional contractor working in your area. Together, you can inspect your crawl space for signs of damage and determine how powerful (and with how many other solutions) you need a dehumidifier to be.