Crawl Space Vents on House

[i am herdman]

Debate going on at work. Should crawl space vents be open or closed. The old way was closed in the winter and open in the summer. Now some people are saying crawl space vents are not needed and if yoiu have them closed all the time. They now say that opening them actually allows moist humid air under the house, especiially in humid areas like the South.

Anybody have thoughts on this. I always close my in the winter and open them in the summer.

But, now some are saying close them all the time.

 

[WV-FAN]

from experience building a cabin, if you have no vents, it will sweat under the house during the hot humid months and you'll up with too much moisture which will likely lead to mold and rot issues. fortunately, we found our faux pas before it was too late and vented it. it did, however, ruin all of the insulation we had installed under the floor.

tell the anti-venters to stfu.

 

[mlblack16.]

tell the anti-venters to stfu.

Here we go again. Is this a democrat or republican stance?

 

[MichiganHerd]

The short answer is don't buy a house with a crawl space. Get a full basement and lay claim to it, and keep the old lady out of it, unless she's bringing more beer home from the store.

But, you keep them closed during the winter time, particularly if you live in an area with extremely cold temperatures, like a fvcked up place like Michigan or Grant County wv. Summer depends on how your HVAC is setup. Sometimes that will take care of the sweating wv jackass typed out. Otherwise keep them open, especially in a hot and humid climate.

Lastly, look out for Jake the snake if you ever have a need to crawl in there. Especially if Jake happens to be colored.

 

[GeauxHerd]

The short answer is don't buy a house with a crawl space. Get a full basement and lay claim to it, and keep the old lady out of it, unless she's bringing more beer home from the store.

But, you keep them closed during the winter time, particularly if you live in an area with extremely cold temperatures, like a fvcked up place like Michigan or Grant County wv. Summer depends on how your HVAC is setup. Sometimes that will take care of the sweating wv jackass typed out. Otherwise keep them open, especially in a hot and humid climate.

Lastly, look out for Jake the snake if you ever have a need to crawl in there. Especially if Jake happens to be colored.

@WV-FAN sweats but from a different reason. What he forgot to mention was the San Fran style Roman bath he has under there for his man buddies to “hang out” in

 

[raleighherdfan]

Debate going on at work. Should crawl space vents be open or closed. The old way was closed in the winter and open in the summer. Now some people are saying crawl space vents are not needed and if yoiu have them closed all the time. They now say that opening them actually allows moist humid air under the house, especiially in humid areas like the South.

Anybody have thoughts on this. I always close my in the winter and open them in the summer.

But, now some are saying close them all the time.

Had mine closed off, sealed and put a dehumidifier in mine. The house stays less humid now in the summer and when I’ve gone into the crawlspace to check on things (2-3 times a year) it is cool and dry.

 

[WV-FAN]

@WV-FAN sweats but from a different reason. What he forgot to mention was the San Fran style Roman bath he has under there for his man buddies to “hang out” in

it has a Michigan logo on it for my special friends.

 

[greengeezer]

I’ve changed my thinking on this and have done the same thing Raleigh did. Don’t open mine and have an electric switch in the house that turns on a dehumidifier in the crawl space. I installed a drain line through the foundation to the outside. Seems to work well and I see little diffence in my electric bill.

 

[i am herdman]

Had mine closed off, sealed and put a dehumidifier in mine. The house stays less humid now in the summer and when I’ve gone into the crawlspace to check on things (2-3 times a year) it is cool and dry.

did you do an encapsulation ? or just sealed the vents and put in a regular dehumidifier?

 

[MichiganHerd]

did you do an encapsulation ? or just sealed the vents and put in a regular dehumidifier?

Do it the redneck way and buy some foam blocks to cover them, or better yet, a couple cans of foam spray so it can look really awful. I love using that foam spray on my foundation. Bird or mouse will eventually eat through it, and the cat is waiting for them once they break through. After that, I get to have fun and spray some more foam. Be careful with it though. That stuff expands more than my crank when watching midget porn.

 

[greengeezer]

If I have to pour my foundation slab three feet thick, I’ll never have another crawl space.

 

[Marshall Jeff]

Short answer… you have been doing it correctly.

 

[raleighherdfan]

did you do an encapsulation ? or just sealed the vents and put in a regular dehumidifier?

Don’t need encapsulation. It’s a scam. The dehumidifier was a bigger unit designed for crawlspaces.

 

[Marc22]

Debate going on at work. Should crawl space vents be open or closed. The old way was closed in the winter and open in the summer. Now some people are saying crawl space vents are not needed and if yoiu have them closed all the time. They now say that opening them actually allows moist humid air under the house, especiially in humid areas like the South.

Anybody have thoughts on this. I always close my in the winter and open them in the summer.

Debate going on at work. Should crawl space vents be open or closed. The old way was closed in the winter and open in the summer. Now some people are saying crawl space vents are not needed and if yoiu have them closed all the time. They now say that opening them actually allows moist humid air under the house, especiially in humid areas like the South.

Anybody have thoughts on this. I always close my in the winter and open them in the summer.

But, now some are saying close them all the time.

They should be open all the time. They are there to provide ventilation in order to stop things such as mold, and mildew.

 

[Marc22]

They should remain open all the time. Per the residential building code they are there to provide ventilation to stop mold, and mildew.

 

[raleighherdfan]

They should remain open all the time. Per the residential building code they are there to provide ventilation to stop mold, and mildew.

Except that they don’t always. Mine were always open. Still had issues with keeping the house a consistent temperature during the summer.

@i am herdman. Also wanted to mention, the guys that did the work also put a new heavier plastic barrier across the floor of the space too. The cheap construction plastic that had been put in had deteriorated over the years.

 

[greengeezer]

What I find happens in the summer is that leaving the vents open allows warm moist outside air to condensate when it meets the cooler air under the house. Wet mess on insulation and heating/cooling duct work.

 

[GeauxHerd]

bigger unit

That’s what she said

 

[i am herdman]

They should remain open all the time. Per the residential building code they are there to provide ventilation to stop mold, and mildew.

I think some of those codes are changing in places to where they are not even installing them anymore. Some builders and others are saying leaving them open in places like the southeast actually let's more warm moisture in and defeats the purpose.

 

[Marc22]

Except that they don’t always. Mine were always open. Still had issues with keeping the house a consistent temperature during the summer.

@i am herdman. Also wanted to mention, the guys that did the work also put a new heavier plastic barrier across the floor of the space too. The cheap construction plastic that had been put in had deteriorated over the years.

Yes, it’s just as important to have good poly to keep the moisture coming up from the ground.

 

[greengeezer]

Yes, it’s just as important to have good poly to keep the moisture coming up from the ground.

I used plastic tarps taped at the seams. I put the silver side up and the reflective quality makes it easier to see when I go under the house.