Quote:
Originally Posted by BroadHopper
I had $80,000 problem because of humidity in the crawlspace. Many sills and joisting were replaced. The contractor was surprised the condo unit did not cave in! I had mold and mildew problem to take care off. It was not pretty.
The solution to prevent future humidity is to cover the dirt foundation with 7 mil plastic sheeting, open faced floor insulation and added more oversized foundation vents. The vents were thermostatically controlled to close when the temperature falls below 70 degrees.>>
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You know the lingo and have danced the dance! When we bought our home 4 years ago we had to sister the main carrying beam in our crawl space, and luckily there was stone and plastic in place. Plastic was also on the joists above covering the insulation. I got rid of all the old plastic on the floor and replaced with new, and got rid of anything kicking around on the ground, cardboard, wood, etc. I also put in a sump pump for when the water table rises.
I like your suggestion about thermostatically controlled vents, however before I jumped into this a couple of years ago I did some research and people down south were saying that when your vent operates in the summer it will be pulling
in the humid air from outside(need an intake vent), making matters worse. I haven't done anything but put a window fan facing out, with no other window open to pull air in. I figured at least some air movement will help until I figure this out. I am nervous, however, of my Lowe's plastic fan running 24/7 catching fire! Dehumidifiers and even an air conditioner in the window well are things people have recommended but I'm not sure yet.
Sorry to get off topic, so adding more humidity with a dryer vent: no, no, no