Crawlspace & Mold

[Stavs]

I have a little storage room on the first floor of my home. The walls are drywalled and I have a mold problem. I started tearing out drywall on the back wall and I found that there is a crawlspace area behind it. There is no type of vapor barrier or insultion in this room or on the walls. When I go to replace the drywall in there, how do I keep the moisture from that crawlspace area from damaging my drywall and letting mold into the room? Can I just put up a sheet of plastic between the crawl space area and the new drywall? Also, should I have that crawlspace insulated (I was thinking spray foam type)? It sits below my kitchen and our floor is always cold. My main goal is to keep moisture out of the crawlspace and the room. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Stavs

[Paul F.]

Well, first I'd look at the crawlspace as potential room for a built in safe of some kind for valuables...

Failing that, I think a plastic vapor barrier is semi-standard.
Someone with more construction experience can probably give you a less wishy-washy answer than that.

[OWC Jamie]

If I'm picturing it correctly (concrete walls?) the space needs venting, not isolation. Although there is a certain degree of moisture that weeps through concrete, so a concrete paint barrier might help.

If this is a basement, a dehumidifier helps with mold, but doesn't necessarily help to get rid of it once it is established in drywall and studs.

[davester]

Four steps:

1. If there is any standing water or muddy spots, you need to eliminate the source of water first (downspouts emptying right next to foundation?...bad grading around foundation?, etc)

2. Insulate the floor of the kitchen (i.e. the ceiling of the crawlspace). I suggest using the thickest rigid (i.e. styrofoam) insulation you can find, since it is highly effective and much more pleasant to deal with in a confined space than fiberglass. Just cut to fit between the joists with a drywall saw and jam it up against the floorboards...use a few nails driven sideways into the joists or perhaps some of those spring steel rods used for fiberglass insulation to hold it in place.

3. Vent the crawlspace to the outside somehow. You need at least two vents to get some airflow through there.

4. Place a vapor barrier (heavy polyethylene sheeting) on the crawlspace floor.

[Stavs]

I'll try to get some pix so you guys can see it. I dont think I describe it right

[M A V I C]

Some good advice here, but one thing that seems to be missed is that you must remediate the mold. You can put down moisture barrier, replace the drywall... but unless you remediate the mold you aren't solving the problem.

This site has a lot of good info on it:
http://www.enviroshield-moldprevention.com/about-mold/

[Stavs]

Here's some pix:




This is the ceiling in the space

As for the mold, I thnk once the drywall is out it should be ok. I had a similiar problem in the garage and we tore out the drywall and everything is all good. Also, I do have a perimeter drain installed in the house which takes care of all my water problems.

I'm thinking maybe this was a coal bin or something?

[MacMagus]

Not a coal bin. Maybe a niche for a water heater or something like that... it looks like that might be a flue in the ceiling, in which case there may already be decent ventilation in there.

[OWC Jamie]

Coal bin would have had a 18-36" access chute to gravity feed from a dump truck.
That looks more the size of an unfinished bulkhead access.

That's a concrete ceiling with a 4" hole the size of a drain waste pipe?
Or, possibly a stove pipe for a wood stove ?

Regardless;

Is there a concrete floor under that dirt on the floor ?

Why not just open the space up and use it ?

[Stavs]

I'll be honest that I'm scared to go in there....critters and stuff. I'm thinking I should insulate the ceiling as recommended. Should I just seal it up with polyetheline and then drywall it and be done? I cant imagine doing anything with that space.