Do you have a crawl space or two in your home that are currently going unused? If so, you may need to ensure that you’re not falling prey to damp and mould growth! However, with the right tools, the best solutions, and a team of experts to hand, there are no reasons why you can’t take care of these issues safely and efficiently.
However, what’s really interesting about these common areas of the home is that they are primed for insulation. Crawl space insulation, believe it or not, may actually help to make your home that little bit more efficient! This means lower energy bills, and it also means that your property is doing its bit to care for the environment.
Your crawl spaces are also likely to be where you’ll find sump pumps. These are essential in helping to prevent home flooding.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can transform the way you use your crawl spaces for the better.
As you can imagine, any gaps or spaces in your home are likely to create draughts, and to let hot air escape. This is going to be hugely inefficient! Unfortunately, if a crawl space is not ventilated, it’s at massive risk of developing damp conditions, as well as standing water. Therefore, you need to be proactive about how to manage these areas.
Crawl space encapsulation is a process through which you can set up a barrier to prevent vapour and moisture from running rife. This is where you might block build-up of water or set up waterproofing beneath your house. If your crawl spaces are not blocking moisture, they are only going to continue getting damp and mouldy as time goes by.
Therefore, encapsulation is just one way to make sure that your spaces are working as efficiently as possible for you. However, have you ever considered crawl space insulation if your crawl spaces are not ventilated?
It’s worth remembering that crawl spaces often split into two types – ventilated, and unventilated. For those spaces which aren’t ventilated, you should make a point of setting up some form of insulation. These are empty spaces which could help to warm up your home with just a few minor touches.
For example, you could install insulation foam to create barriers for draughts. You may also consider air leaks in your crawl spaces, too, which you will naturally need to patch up.
You can, of course, also insulate ventilated crawl spaces. However, the way that you do this, and the materials you use, are likely to be a little different to that which you’d use for an unventilated unit. For example, you might use fibreglass as a solution to seal off seams and joists. Essentially, when it comes to ventilated spaces, your aim is to create vapour barriers – while at the same time, locking in as much heat as you can.
Installing a crawl space liner or foam will help to lock in as much heat as possible in your home. Working alongside with proper ventilation, it’s perfectly possible to prevent damp conditions and mould growth with just a few simple touches. However, as always, it’s a good idea to reach out to local experts who can help with this!
Crawl space insulation might not be the most obvious route to take when it comes to saving money on energy bills, however, it may surprise you just how effective this method of attack actually is. Crucially, if you have any gaps or spaces in your home which are letting cold air in, and letting warmth out, you are going to end up spending more money, and wasting more energy, on heating up your property.
Therefore, it makes sense to insulate as much of your home as you possibly can – even your crawl spaces and hard to reach areas! However, again, be sure to reach out to a team with years of expertise, and the right tools for the job.
It is likely that your crawl spaces will also host a sump pump. Your home sump pump is a crucial component which helps to drain away excess water from your property. Therefore, it actively pumps potential flood water out of your home, therefore protecting you without you needing to reach for the sand bags.
It’s essential you flush and maintain your sump pump(s) regularly. This means, again, that having access to crawl spaces is ideal. Whether you are insulating or encapsulating your spaces, do always make sure that you have a regular sump pump testing and cleaning process in place with local experts.
Crawl spaces are actually more useful than you might think. Providing you use them efficiently, they can help you to keep your home warm and ventilate it to free you from damp and mould. However, you can also use them for storage spaces too – if you have anything you’re struggling to store elsewhere at home!
If you’d like to know more about crawl space insulation and how it might benefit your energy bills and comfort levels in the months and years to come, get in touch with LABS now for a free consultation!
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to people all over the world making big adjustments to their daily lives. The same applies to businesses and local services, too. What happens if you have a problem in your home and you’re self-isolating? What if it’s an issue you need help with immediately, but you can’t risk anyone coming into your home? It’s time to start thinking a little outside the box. Have you thought about what you might need to do regarding damp surveys?
As experienced damp surveyors, we want to remain as flexible as possible for all our customers. While retaining our professional standards as always, we are announcing a new virtual damp proofing survey service. Therefore, you won’t ever have to worry about letting an expert in to take a look at your potential damp issues!
LABS offers in-depth surveys to help address mould issues, condensation, damp and more. On the majority of occasions, we will advise that we need to see a condition up close to ensure we offer you the best diagnosis. However, in light of social distancing and the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, we have made sure to adapt our damp surveys to help as many people as we can during this difficult time.
Instead of setting up a physical appointment for one of our team to visit your home, we can address your inspection via the magic of modern technology. Why not send us photos or videos of your damp condition? Using popular video conferencing services such as Zoom; we can also take a closer look at your potential damp issue in clear detail through video link. This means that we can actively diagnose and support your household concerns without you needing to risk letting anyone in.
Simply show us the condition or damp patch you are worrying about through email, conferencing and more. It may be a quick way for you to get peace of mind on a condition that isn’t necessarily anything to worry about. If it is likely to be part of a bigger problem, you can rest assured that we will address the problem for you and make recommendations as to remedying the situation.
However, please be aware that – of course – a virtual survey will have its limitations. We cannot, unfortunately, guarantee exactly what we will and won’t be able to diagnose from afar. Of course, should your problem or condition need immediate attention, we will recommend a visit takes place.
In the current climate, it’s important to avoid as much social contact as possible to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. However, there are still going to be a few household issues and concerns which you might need help with over time. For example, these might include condensation problems, or rising damp which could develop into something a little harder to contain.
Instead of sitting on these household problems, it makes sense to still reach out to your local experts. It’s tempting to think that many businesses are closing their doors as a result of the ongoing crisis. However, as essential service providers, LABS is pleased to be able to offer customers across our region the help and assistance they need in getting rid of nuisance damp conditions.
During times like these, it may be tempting to either leave damp issues alone, or to try and handle them yourself. However, this is rarely going to be beneficial. In fact, leaving these conditions to fester could result in you developing health conditions, or causing serious damage to your property.
Therefore, it makes sense to get in touch with a leading name in the local damp proofing and surveying trade. LABS is here to ensure you receive the expert advice and support you need to help ease back into a healthy way of life.
At times like these, it’s important to reduce stress as much as possible. Unfortunately, at the time of publishing, we are still unclear as to where UK lockdowns will end, nor what will happen with COVID-19 in the long run. Therefore, millions of people are striving to adapt to life as normal, as they usually might, amidst varying stresses and worries.
LABS is here to make sure you have virtual support with damp conditions in your home as and when you need it. Rather than risk your health and cause further stress, why not contact a team who can inspect damp for you from afar? LABS is pleased to help anyone looking for advice on damp and mould from a distance.
Contact LABS now on 0114 230 2865 for full details – we’ll be ready to set up video conferencing or to arrange virtual analysis of your damp problem as and when necessary.
Unfortunately, most homes are likely to fall prey to condensation at some point or another. Condensation occurs when water vapour is created, and when it builds up and saturates. You may be causing condensation through boiling kettles, or even simply hanging a few clothes out to dry. It is important to understand how to stop condensation, simply because if left untreated, it can lead to mould growth, which can lead to breathing problems.
For that reason, LABS is always here to help you find new ways to stop condensation. Here are a few tips you can use, as well as some devices and ideas which will help to cut down the moistening of your interior walls.
When learning how to stop condensation, you must first understand that without proper ventilation, water vapour is simply going nowhere fast. It is going to build up on walls and windows, and it could produce mould or growths that could pose health risks.
To ventilate properly, you could use extractor fan units, or you could simply choose to open a window or two more regularly during the day! Opening windows, sadly, isn’t going to cut down on the problem completely. This is especially the case when it comes to heavy condensation, or serious mould growth.
Believe it or not, condensation build up can occur as a result of problems in your building’s overall structure. This can occur in older homes where there is no efficient moisture control system in place. Modern homes shouldn’t really suffer in this regard. However, it makes sense to have your property fully inspected wherever possible.
You can look online for tell-tale signs of poor moisture control, however, it is likely going to be quicker and easier for you to ask for help from an expert who can look at a clean course of action to take. You should never try to adjust or fix structural problems in your home on your own.
DPC is a standard which we always recommend when it comes to fighting back against moisture and condensation. Homes built with a solid DPC in place will be better protected against moisture build-up. This means you have a frontline of defence, at least, should mould start wanting to creep up the walls.
Poor DPC systems or homes without moisture control are those which tend to date back decades, even centuries. It is a modern standard in most contemporary homes and new builds. Therefore, if your property is fairly new, you shouldn’t have much to worry about. However, it always pays to check just in case!
We understand that it can be hard to live without constant heat during the colder, wetter months. However, intense heat on a constant basis is always going to breed moisture, and therefore condensation. If you have any hope of learning how to stop condensation in your home, you are going to need to focus on finding heat in different ways. Can you work with a lower heat for a while? What about making sure your home is completely insulated?
There is no harm in making the most of your central heating. However, when left to power on at its top setting all day and all week, you may well start to see signs of condensation and mould. Try not to dry your clothes on radiators all week – hang them up in plenty of advance in cool, dry areas and they will be ready for you to iron in a day or two. That is, of course, if you can’t get your garment outside for wind drying.
One of our preferred options for reducing condensation here at LABS is a humidistat. This technology will accurately measure the humidity in your home, and will let you know when moisture levels are getting too high. It works in a similar fashion to a thermostat, in that it analyses the atmosphere and lets you know what you can expect.
You should ventilate your home if your humidistat advises that levels are particularly high. Therefore, make sure to install such a system as standard as soon as physically possible.
Want to know more about how to stop condensation in your home? Are you in need of damp-proofing for your basement or elsewhere? Come and have a quick chat with our team. Call us directly on 0114 230 2865 for friendly advice and guidance, or do email us via form if you’d like to know more about what LABS can do for you.
