At the mold seminar as well as in everything I read, both online and in books, it was emphasized that crawl spaces need to be absolutely dry, ergo sealed, and that ventilation is needed in the attic because heat rises.  There are gorgeous illustrations in some of these books explaining the movement of both air and moisture in a building.

Due to this information, I decided to begin my mold remediation in the crawl space.  A very savvy realtor recommended the CleanSpace system so I am inviting you to join me on a tour of my project . . . day-by-day as the system is installed.

 

No one really needs to know what my issues are:  all that is needed is an understanding of what is required to fix a problem.  This starts with eliminating moisture and whatever the mold can use for food.

First, turn the calendar back a year when the inspector and mold tester assessed the problems and issued a formal report.  I discussed this in the account of my mold odyssey.  He made recommendations which were to be used by others to develop a protocol for remediation.  Part of his recommendations pertained to the crawl space where he discovered some irregularities, which I will not discuss in detail because this is fodder for the lawyers.

The beginning of remediation entails removal of all organic material in the crawl space: this includes every scrap of wood left by contractors and even nails because, as we remember, rust is also a kind of fungus.

 

	What was found under my new house filled five contractor's black bags (only four shown on this picture)!
	One of the crucial things the inspector had recommended was the removal of the framing materials around the concrete supporting the posts.  This is very important and maybe the safety goggles sitting on the concrete suggested that someone intended to come back and do this, but he forgot.
	The part of the framing material that was hidden by the visqueen.
In addition to these terrible pieces of board, there were a lot of other scraps, nails, twigs, roots, and odds and ends of building materials, all accidents waiting to happen—and happen they did.
	The rest of what was found under the house is probably a normal part of Nature, but still undesirable.  For instance, there were salamanders and their eggs, very odd mushrooms, and several kinds of mold, including the white one on this photo.

 

Crawl Space Remediation, the next day

 

Ingrid Naiman
15 November 2005

Installation of Crawl Space Encapsulation || CleanSpace Installation A-Z

CleanSpace Installation A-Z || Garage || Air Pressure

Remediation Attire || Duct Cleaning || Particulates || Mold Dog

 

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2005

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