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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I know the moisture barrier won't do
anything for energy efficiency. But I was also going to have them
insulate the perimeter walls at the same time, making the
crawlspace semi-conditioned space. I do not have moisture
problems in the crawl space currently. The moisture problems I've
had in the past have come from plumbing, not from any moisture
entering from elsewhere. Our house sits on a knoll, I have good
gutters & roof overhangs, etc., so no problems with rainwater
or groundwater.<br>
<br>
I know there are two schools of thought on this, but I didn't
realize there was still debate about it. I generally trust
buildingscience.com and am making the decision based on the
information they have there.<br>
<br>
We just deeply renovated the house next door to us, tearing it
down to the floor joists and studs, including ripping up all the
subfloor. It has a ventilated crawl space, though I don't know
whether or not the previous owners kept the vents open, nor do I
recall how good the air flow was. The floors were not insulated.
The finished floors in there were carpet (mostly) and some vinyl
sheet flooring. The subfloor was one layer of thin plywood, one
layer of tarpaper, and then one layer of particle board. Moisture
from the top (cat pee & plumbing leaks) had rotted a lot of
the particle board and moisture from the bottom (plumbing leaks?)
had caused a LOT of mold on the under side of the plywood and
floor joists, though not enough (in most cases) to destroy them.
(The bathroom was the exception.) Seeing all the mold on the
underside of the subfloor and the joists is what is leading me
toward the moisture barrier....though if all I'm doing is
containing the moisture inside the barrier, then it won't help, I
realize...hence my questions. Our crawl space is NOT big enough
to get in there on a regular basis to investigate and we're not
spring chickens anymore.<br>
<br>
I appreciate your feedback!<br>
--Leslie<br>
<br>
On 1/14/15, 11:56 AM, Antonioli Dan wrote:<br>
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<div>Leslie, </div>
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<div>Your concerns about pooling, or ponding, on top of a moisture
barrier are very real and in some instances moisture barriers
lead to devastating moisture problems with water damage and
mold. Also, there are two types of basic systems in use, and
heavily debated, which are: 1) tightly sealed crawlspaces that
don’t let cold air in and; 2) vented crawlspaces that can breath
and prevent moisture and mold from developing. If keeping your
floor warm is the main issue then a vapor barrier may not do
much of anything. In general crawlspace moisture barriers don’t
do anything for energy efficiency. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Now is the time of year to inspect the dirt for moisture. Is
there a lot of moisture? Is there mud? Is there standing water?
Or is it dry? If it’s dry I wouldn’t bother with a moisture
barrier at all and instead focus on a good floor joist
insulation. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Dan Antonioli</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://going-green.co">http://going-green.co</a></div>
<div><br>
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<div>On Jan 13, 2015, at 6:07 PM, Leslie Moyer <<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:unschooler@lrec.org">unschooler@lrec.org</a>>
wrote:</div>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Yes, the company does that,
too. Radon is not TOO much of a problem, generally, in
this part of the country, but it was where I lived in
Iowa, so I'm aware. And I know it CAN be a problem
anywhere. We had to remediate radon before selling a
house in Iowa once. Thanks! <br>
<br>
I talked to this company on the phone today re: my second
concern and they have 2 possible solutions he proposed
that they use. One is a moisture monitor (alarm) and the
other is a moisture monitor with a sump pump. I still
have questions about how this would work (where would best
placement of this/these be?), but feel better knowing it
can be addressed. <br>
<br>
--Leslie<br>
<br>
On 1/13/15, 6:47 PM, ErgoDesk wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:CAPmSYzsLBGxHavFqWsWF11NeWmPrst3PpPgadFhrMQTwYF-VKg@mail.gmail.com"
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<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial
narrow,sans-serif;font-size:large">I would also add
RADON protection.</div>
<span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
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<div><span
style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:proxima-nova-1,proxima-nova-2,Tahoma,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:21px">Sincerely,</span><br
style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:proxima-nova-1,proxima-nova-2,Tahoma,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:21px">
<span
style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:proxima-nova-1,proxima-nova-2,Tahoma,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:21px">George
Hawirko</span><font color="#0000ee"><u><br>
</u></font></div>
<div><font color="#0000ee"><u><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://about.me/StyroHome"
target="_blank">http://about.me/StyroHome</a></u></font><br>
</div>
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<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 12:05
PM, Leslie Moyer <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:unschooler@lrec.org" target="_blank">unschooler@lrec.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I'm
getting ready to have some work done on my
crawlspace....vapor barrier on the ground & wall
insulation. I'm calling a local company whose info
I got from this website to do an estimate: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.basementsystems.com/crawl-space/crawl-space-vapor-barrier.html"
target="_blank">http://www.basementsystems.com/crawl-space/crawl-space-vapor-barrier.html</a><br>
<br>
I'll ask these questions when they come to do the
estimate, but also thought I would ask here (for
unbiased answers). I have two questions/concerns.<br>
<br>
1. We had a small addition added to the end of our
long, skinny ranch house last winter. Imagine a
long rectangle...we added about 15 feet to the east
end of it (a bathroom & extended bedroom). I had
them finish that new part of the house crawlspace in
the "right" way (with a vapor barrier on the ground
& wall insulation), but since the rest of the
(old) part of the house crawl space is insulated in
the (house) floor, the new floor is cold. We knew
we were doing this work soon-ish, and are just now
getting around to it. They knocked a people-size
hole in the end of the old foundation to allow
access to the new part of the crawl space, but I'm
worried that the existing foundation (that runs the
width of the house) will be a long thermal bridge
that never allows the new end of the house to warm
up. Thoughts?<br>
<br>
2. Our plumbing runs are in the crawlspace and we
had a bad plumbing leak there last year. The
kitchen sink drain became unhooked from the main
drain pipe (or was never hooked up well to begin
with) and was leaking water and some food waste
under there for at least a year--probably longer.
Not helped by the fact that our septic was also
backing up, we think. It all got fixed when we did
the addition and renovated both bathrooms (and did
work on our septic lines), but the way we knew it
was leaking was the smell coming from the crawlspace
vents. And we had a great deal of difficulty
finding a plumber willing to get under there and fix
it. Anyway--if we have plumbing problems again--even
a small leak--with a vapor barrier down there, isn't
it going to create a swimming pool? How would we
know?<br>
<br>
I hate crawlspaces.<br>
<br>
--Leslie Oklahoma<br>
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