Crawl Space Ninja Podcast with Michael Church
Welcome to "Healthy Home ABCs with Michael Church," where we dive into the essentials of improving indoor air quality. Learn practical tips for fixing your attic, basement, and crawl space to create a healthier home environment.
Crawl Space Ninja Podcast with Michael Church
Why Crawl Space Encapsulation Alone May Not Be Enough: The Essential Role of Dehumidifiers
Ever wondered if crawl space encapsulation alone is enough to combat humidity? We'll reveal why you might still need a dehumidifier to keep mold and wood rot fungus at bay. In our latest episode, we break down the full encapsulation process—laying plastic, sealing vents, wrapping pillars—and explain why these steps may not suffice in humid climates. Discover key strategies for effectively monitoring and managing moisture levels in your crawl space, ensuring a healthy environment all year long.
Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!
Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com
Listen as we dissect common misconceptions about vapor barriers, dehumidifiers, and vent fans. Find out why even fully renovated basements often require dehumidifiers, and learn how this insight applies to your crawl space. From Denver’s dry air to the humidity of more tropical locales, we offer tailored advice to fit your specific needs. Join Michael Church, your Crawl Space Ninja, for a deep dive into the essential tools and techniques that will keep your home safe and comfortable. Don't miss these must-know tips and recommendations!
Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!
Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com
Hey, microchurch Crawl Space Ninja. We're continuing our crawl space misconception series and today it's a little different. Do I need a dehumidifier if I perform crawl space encapsulation? So you're putting down the plastic, you're overlapping and taping and doing all that stuff Do you need a dehumidifier? So again, a lot of times there's some misconceptions out there about the role of vapor barrier and the role of the dehumidifier and the role of the vent fan, for example. So what I want to do is try to bring those two together.
Speaker 0:Most homes are built with a loose laid plastic laid down on the ground and we've done a video about that already. It doesn't tend to be that effective at controlling humidity. Well, if you've got a lot of mold and wood rot fungus getting started or you're concerned, maybe you don't have any problems, but you're concerned and you want to make sure you take care of that issue. By the way, real quick, if you want to know if you have an issue, we recommend you get a humidity reader and a wood moisture meter, check the wood moisture levels and check the humidity and keep a check on it year round. Most of the time in the summertime it's going to explode with moisture and in the winter it starts to dry out. So back to what I was talking about. If you go in and you install a full encapsulation, you look in and you got your pretty white plastic. The pillars are wrapped, it's overlapped and taped, it's up the walls, it's mechanically attached, it's installed to code and then you seal the vents. All the vents are sealed. That's part of an encapsulation project. Now with us, we seal all but one and ventilate. We got a video about that if you want to check it out.
Speaker 0:If you don't install that dehumidifier, if you do all of that work and do not install that dehumidifier, you're still in most cases, if not all cases, going to have a humidity problem. Now, if you live in a very dry part of the country, humidity is always low, like, for example I always talk about Denver, colorado being low, san Diego is probably low, that sort of thing you may not have to have a dehumidifier, but most of us with crawl spaces live in a very humid environment and just encapsulating the crawl space with plastic and not installing a dehumidifier will not control humidity. And look at a basement those of you with basements most of the basements that we go into, even though they're fully renovated, they're living spaces. They've got insulation and drywall and carpet and all that. Guess what? You still need a dehumidifier in some of those basements, right? So the crawl space is no different.
Speaker 0:If you're going to encapsulate, if you're going to go through everything and do it right, we recommend that you do the encapsulation with dehumidification and ventilation, as well as properly insulate and all that other stuff. So I'm Michael Church Crawl Space Ninja. Hope you make it a happy and blessed day and we'll see you later.