Many homes have crawl spaces where workers can go to access the pipes. This is a pretty normal thing as far as home design goes.
You likely don’t spend a lot of time in your crawl space. Perhaps you check the crawl space every so often as a homeowner just to ensure that all is well.
Have you noticed that you have water in your crawl space? This is certainly an issue that you’ll want to take care of.
Can water in a crawl space cause issues with mold? Continue reading to get to the bottom of this situation.
Standing Water Can Cause Mold to Grow
It’s true that having standing water in your crawl space can cause mold to grow. If you notice standing water in the crawl space area, it’s important to do what you can to get rid of it.
Mold can be hazardous to your health, and it isn’t something that you want to get worse. Also, you should know that standing water can lead to more problems than just creating the right conditions for mold growth.
Solving the standing water issues is imperative. You’ll need to drain the water from the crawl space using some type of hose and a pump.
Direct the hose away from your home. The hose should preferably be directed toward a storm drain.
You switch the pump on and let it do its work. Do this first before worrying about getting rid of the mold.
Standing Water in a Crawl Space Can Cause Structural Damage
One of the most worrying aspects of having standing water in the crawl space is that it can cause structural damage. This can be a major problem that will harm your home.
The wood underneath your home might start to rot. This will start to cause issues with your flooring over time.
Over time, the presence of excess moisture will cause cupping in your hardwood flooring. This means that the edges might start lifting and the floor won’t be even any longer.
This occurs when too much moisture is absorbed by the wood. It’s not a problem you want to deal with.
You might have to replace your flooring entirely if things get really bad. Your home could wind up being damaged so much that you’ll need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fix things.
Getting Rid of Mold
You can take the time to get rid of mold in your crawl space. There are mold-removal cleaners that you can purchase to get the job done.
Essentially, you’ll be going underneath your home by entering the crawl space. You’ll then be soaking the impacted areas with this special mold-killing mixture.
You must allow the areas that you sprayed to dry for a while. After everything has dried, you need to use a brush with hard and stiff bristles to scrub everything down.
The scrubbing should remove the rest of the mold. It can take a lot of time to get a job like this done, though.
Also, it can be dangerous since mold can make you sick. It’s recommended to wear protective gear when you’re cleaning the mold.
You’ll want some type of mask and it’s likely wise to cover your skin. Professionals have special suits that allow them to do jobs like this safely, and you might wish to purchase the same type of equipment.
Throw away your brush, mask, and coveralls when you’re done. It’s just safer to do so.
Hire Professionals
Hiring professionals might be preferable to doing the job yourself. There should be mold removal specialists in your area that you can turn to.
Experts can enter your crawl space and eliminate the mold safely. They will use special tools to get the job done in a timely fashion.
Of course, you’ll have to pay them to do this. It might be more expensive to hire someone to remove the mold, but it’s safer than doing it yourself.
Also, not everyone has the time or the ability to do such a job. If you’re not confident enough to attempt this yourself, it’s beneficial to reach out to a local company for help.
Don’t Ignore This Problem
Some people might be tempted to just ignore this issue if the mold isn’t too bad. You might simply choose to remove the standing water and call it a day.
This is a poor choice because it’ll wind up getting worse over time. Even having a little bit of mold in your crawl space can lead to serious consequences.
Mold will continue to spread if you don’t get rid of it. In some cases, the mold might be really dangerous, too.
For example, black mold is something that can cause people serious harm. Even minor amounts of mold will start to get through to your home, and it can cause you and your family to experience respiratory issues.
Since this can be a big problem, you don’t want to ignore it. Mold will weaken the foundation of your home, cause issues with your flooring, and it’ll threaten your health.
Take action as soon as you can to keep things from getting worse. It’d be better to pay someone to solve the issue now than to deal with even more expensive issues later.
Final Thoughts
Standing water in your crawl space is such a big problem. It’s not something you can ignore because it’ll continue to get worse.
You need to get rid of the standing water fast. Use a pump and a hose to get the water out from underneath your home.
Solve any issues that caused your crawl space to flood. Then you’ll need to deal with any mold that you can find in the crawl space.
You can get rid of mold yourself if you want to. It’ll be necessary to buy protective equipment, and you’ll need to buy mold-killing cleaners.
Many people find it easier and safer to hire experts to do such jobs. A local company can handle crawl space mold removal for you, but you’ll need to pay them.
If you don’t get things handled, the mold issue will get worse. It could even threaten your health if you’re not careful.
Do your best to make good choices to protect your home and your family. You can solve this problem and get back to living your life normally.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel