Crawl Space
Mould
[August 28, 2003]
Q.
I live in a house where the dryer
vent is vented through the floor venting directly under the house.
It is a frame house with wood floors covered with carpet. Dirt is
the foundation. I called a place locally for testing they told me
$1500 to test. What are the chances of mould being under my house?
I look forward to hearing from you. I am highly allergic to mould
and about the beginning of July with Oklahoma's heat, my allergies
have gone nuts. Nothing, no medication has helped.
A. Almost all crawl spaces beneath homes are mould havens because of
high humidity from water evaporating from the dirt ground below
and from water flowing into the crawl space from outside. By
venting the dryer directly into the crawl space, the dryer
exhaust creates high humidity levels in the crawl space which
makes it very likely you have mould growing on support timbers
and the bottom of the floor decking. Crawl space mould easily
spreads by growth into the floors and walls above. Crawl space
mould also generates airborne mould spores that can enter the
house from fresh air intakes of your heating/cooling system and
through open windows and doors. You can use our do it yourself
mould test kits to test the air of your crawl space, rooms,
above, attic, and the outward airflow from heating/cooling duct
registers for the possible presence of elevated levels of
airborne mould spores, in comparison to an outdoor mould control
test. Elevated levels are unhealthy and an indication that your
house may have a serious mould infestation problem.
[June 23, 2003]
Q. My
wife has suffered from sinus problems for the past 2 years. She is 42 years
old, had never had much problems before, but has had
problems for 2 straight years. She had sinus surgery and that did not help.
We are wondering if we might have mould or a similar environmental problem. We
live on a crawl space. It has never had any water. It is covered with pea
gravel and plastic sheeting. The plastic has some gaps where it goes around
peers and along the edge of the walls. The crawl space is a little musty, but
not overpowering. Our indoor humidity runs about 50 - 60% in the summer
time. No flooding or any visible signs of mould. No mould smell in the house
(I am extremely sensitive to mould from a breathing/congestion and an itchy
skin standpoint. I have not been suffering any problems. Any thoughts on
whether we should consider testing? Obviously we do not want to spend money
chasing wild ideas, but we need to find some relief as well.
A.
Your first step is to mould test the air of the crawl
space and of all the rooms above the crawl space, your attic,
and the air flow out of your heating/air conditioning
ducts/registers using our do-it-BEST-yourself mould test kits with our expert mould
lab analysis & mould identification.
What you doing in mould testing the indoor air for is a mould
investigation of the possible presence of elevated
levels of airborne mould spores which, if present, would be an
indication of a possible mould infestation somewhere in your
home. A humidity level of 60% is enough to enable mould to start
growing. On a year-round basis, you should be maintaining an
indoor humidity of 30 to 40% to discourage mould growth. You do
this with dehumidifiers that are programmed to keep running
until humidity reaches the level you set in the 30 to 40% range.
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