Condensation in my crawl space

After consoling my wife from the loss of her childhood, I went down to see if there was any more dammage. I was concearned about the 2X6 pony wall in the middle running the length of the crawl space. It seem okay at this point, but I immagine eventually the wood will get punkey and rotten.

There were only three vents, so last spring (May 2003) I put in two 6" duct fans on the opposite side to increase the air movment and pump out some of the moist air. In Oct I closed the vents, but kept the fans running.

When I go down now the concrete still feals very wet - especiasially on the deep end. There is some sign of epavessence (sp?) on the shallow end which is dry. I have never seen sitting water, there is however a floor drain.

The outside was painted with the black stuff - although how deep I do not know. There is good insulation batting between the floor joists. Is there anything else I can do to stop the moisture from comming in? Or to get the moisture out before it condenses? I really wish there was no crawl space - it is not big enough to be useful and is giving me nothing but head aches.

Thanks in advance, Grant.

Funny thing, only her stuff was ruined. I guess everthing sentimental to me is in my barn. Actually it is over in my Dads barn.

The plastic tubs do not seal well. I gather what is happening is the moisture from the rain seeps through the concrete. It evaporates as it is warmer than in the ground. As it cools at night it condenses - some in the tubs and it cant get out.

As I said, I have seen no water in the crawl, but the concrete feels moist. First thing I will do is put in more vents and then excavate and put a drain in. What kind of membrane should I put on the concrete wall.

Thanks Grant

The house does have gutters, however the north side only has a 18" overhang. In addition to this there is a mild grade comming off the road and my gravel parking area toward this north side.
There were gardens and grass extending right up to the house, and I have seen water pooling close to the north house side (after a big rain). Perhaps another drain running the length would help to stop that water befor it hits the foundation wall?

In the main living part of the house I run an HRV all the time in the winter to keep the moisture out and from condensing. In the summer I leave the Hymidity sensor at about 50% but the windows are usually open most of the time.

This house doesn't breath very well - sealed up a little too tight. Sound like it is going to need a little more artificial respiration / ventalation. Come to think of it, the attic only has six vents and it gets smokin hot up there in the summer. Maybe I should install an attic fan with temp control also.

Thanks again, Grant

If you don't have a humidity monitor, get one and take it down there. We use one from Grainger, who now offers one for $28, to tell us how our underground house is doing. Then we know when to run a humidifier or dehumidifier to avoid your problems. In Virginia, high humidity occurs in the summer.

A few years ago a client noticed the baseboard near a refrigerator was over 2" off the floor, still firmly attached. Yep, wet crawl space which helped rot the floor joists sitting on masonry. Old house, built before pressure treated lumber existed. I jacked up the joists but the only fix we could do for the wet space was to install the biggest dehumidifier I could get in there. Turns itself on and off automatically. The problem was both surface water coming in and condensation. Was not allowed to do anything about the surface water, but at least the refrigerator never made it into the crawl space. Floor joists are much happier now.

A further potential problem for you will be growing molds. You need to keep your relative humidity there below 60%, preferably 50%.

Digging the drains along the side of the house is not a problem, I will tackle it this June. In addition I will open the vents and install a few more.

Thanks everyone for your help. Jls, I respect your opinion, but I'm not taking your advice. Kurt, sounds like you did a real nice job on your house.