SNAKES HUNTING MICE
-Mold ONLY comes from the first 3 foot of dirt around the planet
-UV light in sunlight kills 99% of the surface mold
Or we would all be dead as well as all other plant and life forms
-But when a tree falls down in the forest, sunlight can’t reach under it so mold sends up its spores and starts eating away at the bottom of a tree until its broken down fully
Mold needs 3 things, like us, to live
- Moisture
- Organic food
- Oxygen
-In the crawl space there is no sunlight so mold can thrive if it has these 3 components
Mold gets moisture and bio matter from the ground where all the trees and leaves have been breaking down over the years.
-It needs oxygen and covering the ground in the crawl space with any thickness of plastic, min plastic thickness we see in NC is 6 mil, it STARVES mold of oxygen and greatly inhibits growth.
-Having exposed ground in the crawl space allows mold to colonize so much so that you can visibly see it on the dirt floor
1st mold found is white, not very aggressive but over time eats at the cellulose, the glue, in wood and weakens it.
2nd mold found is grey…a little more aggressive eating at the wood faster and deeper
3rd Brown mold: very aggressive and needs a wood moisture content of 20% to grow on the beams. It shows as veins that REALLY eats into the wood FAST.
4th BLCK MOLD: Used in WWI and WWII to aspirate over our troops and kill them by giving them Legionnaires disease. Mold eating away the insides of humans. 5% of NC unsealed crawl spaces have Black mold on the beams let alone on the uncovered ground. China recently aspirated Black Mold over a providence that unpleased them and received world wide negative publicity.
1ST RULE IN ALL NC CRAWLSPACES IS 100% GROUND IS COVERED BY PLASTIC
This GREATLY inhibits mold spores in the air looking to colonize and feed and reproduce on the floor structure
WHY IS THE INSULATION HANGING DOWN?
Mold attracts camel crickets and cockroaches to eat the mold in NC crawlspaces.
Camel crickets eat the mold and leave little tiny black poo’s and cock roaches leave larger black poo’s that stain the wood even after the poo is removed. Only way to un stain it is
1. RMR86 Pro (33 sec video) REALLY toxic stuff or
2. Sanding/ grinding the wood until the stained wood is gone. Expensive and usually not worth the money except in New Construction that new home inspectors demand it.
TIP: Put your finger in the solution or it drips on your exposed skin and BAD DAY!!!! for your flesh
MICE love camel crickets and coackroaches
The mice dig outside the foundation, under the footer, and come up inside the foundation leaving holes by the foundation walls all throughout the crawl space.
-The Mice, usually 25-100 in ALL NC unsealed crawl spaces, eat the camel crickets and cock roaches as they nest in the insulation and drink from:
1. Standing water on ground or on top of plastic
2. Licking the condensation off the metal AC housing and AC ducts that are chilled and condensate when warmer more moist air comes into the crawl space trhrough the foundation vents.
Mice don’t like to live outside the crawl space because they have 100 preditors, cats, birds …etc so the crawl space is as safe as it gets for a mouse ….EXCEPT FOR:
SNAKES
A family of black snakes lives in ALL NC crawlspaces. They usually eat the poisonous snakes, copperheads, so they are the predominant preditor in the crawlspace.
These snakes usually feed twice a week. They are EXCELLENT climbers, I saw one black snake 3/4 the way up a 18 foot flat cinderblock crawlspace wall in Apex new construction.
They climb the pillars and travel along electrical and gas lines and make nickel to quarter size holes all throughout the insulation as they hunt for the mice. They usually start this activity in the BACK of the crawlspaces away from the door that has more human scent by it.
They will push and pull the insulation causing it to sag and sometimes even fall down. If the crawl space is low enough and the snakes are long enough you will see hundreds of strands of insulation hanging down from the snakes rising up from the ground and picking through the insulation.
2 GOODYEAR BLIMPS of air rises into the average 2400 sf NC home from the crawl space.
After 1973 when NC got central air we artificially chilled our homes. This causes:
1. Chilled ceilings in crawlspaces to condensate and produce continuos moisture. This moisture by gravity falls to the lowest part of the wood floor which are the floor joists. Thats why professionals measure the bottom of the joists for wood moisture content. Thats why MOLD starts growing on the bottom of the joists first.
2. 2 Goodyear blimps of air, football field size, of air to rise from the crawlspace into the living area in the home. HEALTHY CRAWLSPACE = HEALTHY HOME. Thats why NC studies show that 50% of your homes air, from open foundation vented homes, comes from the crawlspace.
This STACK EFFECT of rising warm moist air from the crawlspace makes the AC work 20%-25% harder.
This moistue on the underside of the homes 1st floor makes HARDWOOD FLOORS CUP, from having the floor 16+% wood moisture content under it and 12% wood moisture content in the home … making the floor boards cup.
This is why ALOT of NC Builders have switched to sealed crawl spaces.
1. Ground is 100% covered and sealed away from the home air
2. AC works 20-25% less allowing builders to put in 20% + smaller AC units saving the homeowner valuable AC electricity dollars
3. Cost to builders of a sealed crawlspace are similiar to open foundation vented crawl spaces.
How can that be?
Open vented foundation vented crawlspaces need:
A. 6 mil plastic
B. Insulation placed in ceiling of crawlspace and supported by insulation stays
C. Have 20%+ larger AC units
Sealed Crawlspaces need:
A. 6 mil plastic down then a 10 mil plastic down
B. Hardboard insulation board is installed on the walls of the sealed crawl space equaling the same price as batting/spun insualtion installed in the ceiling.
C. Require less masonry work because masons dont have to put a 8×16 inch hole in foundation wall for the foundation vents allowing them to lay a wall quicker.
D. No need for foundation vent screens at $15 a pop and need to be cemented in
E. AC is 20%-25% smaller saving builder $1000 ++
IF THE COST TO A NEW CONSTRUCTION BUILDER ARE THE SAME
And they give their new homeowner a:
1. Dry
2. Mold free
3. 99% critter free
4. Hardwood floors stays perfect
5. Air quality stays superior
6. Save the homeowner 18%-22% on their elctric bill
7. Home owner , if the crawl space has some height, has 1000+sf of conditioned storage space.
-Many taller sealed crawlspaces are well lit by LED Lighting and can be used for:
I. Home gyms
II. Workshop/hobby area
III. Great conditioned storage area
My crawlspace is 11 foot tall x 40ft long…I have a full YouTube studio in it on one side and my motorcycle in the middle with a full workbench station. Its like a FREE 2-Car Garage, that’s air conditioned.
EVERY SINGLE vented crawlspace has moisture in NC,
Every vented crawlspace grows mold (whether dirt is 100% covered or not)
Every vented crawlspace has 25-100 mice nesting in the insulation
Every vented crawlspace has a family of black snakes hunting mice.
Rarely does a homeowner use their crawlspace since mold grows on anything they store in there.
SO WHY DO SOME BUILDERS STILL MAKE OPEN VENTED CRAWLSPACES??
Its a mystery to me??
CALL TODAY for a FREE detailed crawlspace inspection!! (919)302-1081 Matt Garrett
We provide 60-80 pictures
Multiple video’s
We recommend the LOWEST PRICED SOLUTION that addresses ALL crawlspace concerns and that will last for the life of the home.
We also share all the service options but do not push the more expensive ones!!
Realtor clients receive 10% discount from our stated retail pricing
Realtors personal properties including rentals receive 15% discount from our retail pricing (Always listed on page 1 of our website)
OUR COMPANY SLOGAN IS:
Not Everyone Needs A Palace For A Crawlspace
But if you want a palace, we make BEAUTIFUL crawlspaces.
