My basement has a crawl space (full space, i.e. under the entire basement floor). It is realtively large basement and has 2 rooms, a full bathroom, fernace room and a large living area. The floor of the basement (i.e. above the crawl space) is made of wood and it is carpeted and has many depressed and bowing areas. The floor of the crawl space is covered with sand and it has been always have lots of moisture and at times wet. I am planning for a major home renovations, including the basement, and I am seriousely thinking of eliminating (removing) this crawl space all together. Is it possible to do this? How? What would happen to the existing basement rooms, bathroom, fernaces, above the crawl space and to the swege pipes in the crawl space? Any ideas? Thanks for help.
Hassan
Hassan,
It would be a large undertaing (read; expensive) to remove the crawl space and replace it with new floor and all new walls above the new floor. Everything would have to be re-built.
Better to fix the fl;oor as best as you can, plus bring in an exhaust duct and fan that will directly vent the crawl space dampness to the outside. This will greatly reduce the dampness under the floor, and make the entire basement smell much better, as the odour will no longer be treaching the basement interior, it will be power vented to the exterior of your home.
Best of luck,
Andrew
Andrew is correct in that digging down the crawl space could very likely be a large undertaking that may involve underpinning. A short term solution is eliminate all wood to soil contact apply a vapour barrier over the soil and vent the space. This is important to control moisture and mould growth as well as the impact on the floor joists above.
If you want to continue to use the space but not bear the expense of digging it down, there are many solutions available that can achieve this.
Let us know if you have any further questions in this regard.
Kingsway Construction Inc.
Glenn Rosborough
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