Crawl Space Venting

[northwindman]

Hi and good day to all. I would like to know if anyone could recomend or has any experience with a crawl space venting system that I recently gathered information on. The fan unit name is Zeus, the system utilizes a 10 in. fan to draw a vacuum and exhaust air out and moisture scrubbers to capture excess moisture and return to outdoors. I have two issues possibly a leaky pipe and excess moisture. I believe there is a leak because there is high pitched groan when water is running so I am thinking there is air in the line. Does this sound likley? The other problem I believe stems from heavy amounts of spring and early summer rains. The gound level in the crawl space is below the grade level outside and I believe any excess water that runs from the roof to ground below is saturating ground and leaking under the footings and into the crawl. I was thinking of installing the system and using poly to cover ground. Does this sound like a practicle solution to my problem? It is a double wide and has belly wrap and insulation under it. The foundation is poured concrete wall on footings. I would certainly appreciate any help or information I can get and thank you.

[Greg]

Anything you do to reduce moisture under your home is a good thing. Moisture scrubbers may be overkill, a good air flow should be all you need.

Water leaks need to be addressed ASAP. You could try shutting off the main valve and see if it holds pressure over an hour or two. If you see the belly sagging excessively or dripping in one area that is a bad sign also. If you have A/C and tight skirting with no air movement you may have condensation over a large area, more ventilation should help that.

Greg

[northwindman]

Thank you very much for the information, I will try shuting off main valve.

[DaveyB]

Firstly, you should address that rainwater issue - water off the roof should not run into the crawl space, so a french drain system may help to alleviate that part of the problem. (Shallow trench dug with a perforated pipe at the bottom and filled with gravel). Without doing this, then the rainwater will still enter under your poly sheet and erode the base of the footings that the home rests on.

Take a look at the skirting around the home - you should see some panels that are vented and if these are spaced evenly around the home then the fan will be useless as it will draw out the air sucked in through the nearest vents and the rest of the crawl space will not benefit. If properly distributed on the windward and leeward sides of the home, these vent panels can provide most of the ventilation needed under the home.

If you really need to go the fan route, site the fan at one end (neither windward nor leeward) and as far from the bedrooms as possible. Move all the vented skirting panels to the opposite end, leaving the sides solid. Look for a small solar panel that can power the fan and install that with the fan. The fan will now stop at night (letting you sleep) or when it's raining (not sucking in more moist air), and work even harder on the warm dry days to get the moisture out.

Incidentally, a high pitched groan when the water is running could also be indicative of a constricted pipe, possibly due to scale buildup. Think how a Clarinet or Oboe works and you'll get the picture

Hope that helps!

DaveyB

[jpingram5]

Properly venting crawl spaces has been & still is a debated topic. There's too many mixed opinions and what's considered proper venting. I can't tell you whats good and whats not good. Do some research on it and you will see.

As far as the water leaks goes, does this sound come from the water heater possibly?