Crawl Spaces WWMD?

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Any of you Mags have an opinion on Insulated Vs un-insulated floor joist in a crawl space?
House I bought 6ish months ago or so is very well insulated but, Pest company is telling me I should rip it out as it's not necessary and is a highway for rodents to get throughout the whole house if they get into the crawl space.

[dunfree]

PM Art Shirk

[Alaskan Rover]

Any of you Mags have an opinion on Insulated Vs un-insulated floor joist in a crawl space?
House I bought 6ish months ago or so is very well insulated but, Pest company is telling me I should rip it out as it's not necessary and is a highway for rodents to get throughout the whole house if they get into the crawl space.

Well...I'm assuming you're not talking Alaska or Canada or northern Minnesota then....where insulated crawl space would be beneficial.

There's other ways to insulate floor joists besides stapled fiberglass batting, you know.

One good alternative if you just need a bit of insulation is the blue or pink styrofoam board insulation. Cut it too the right size and it could be jam fitted. Plus it is safer to work with than fiberglass batting. And since you jan fit it right to the reverse bottom of the flooring, there is no avenue for rodents. And the stuff is vurtually hydrophobic.

[iceman]

Is it conditioned space?

[BmillsSkier]

PM Art Shirk

Beat me to it.

Also, try searching: river of poo

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Well...I'm assuming you're not talking Alaska or Canada or northern Minnesota then....where insulated crawl space would be beneficial.

There's other ways to insulate floor joists besides stapled fiberglass batting, you know.

One good alternative if you just need a bit of insulation is the blue or pink styrofoam board insulation. Cut it too the right size and it could be jam fitted. Plus it is safer to work with than fiberglass batting. And since you jan fit it right to the reverse bottom of the flooring, there is no avenue for rodents. And the stuff is vurtually hydrophobic.

lol Naw I'm in central Washington, Spray foam sounds nicer than the stapled in Batting I currently have. I could also transplant it into the rafters of my shop that's currently nekid.

Is it conditioned space?

No it is not.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Beat me to it.

Also, try searching: river of poo

oh my.... scared.

[iceman]

No it is not.

Then I would probably pull the insulation out from between the joists, do some perimeter insulation (spray, board whatever the budget can carry) and see about getting some air down there.

[Flyoverland Captive]

Taking it out and replacing with spray foam sounds like a ridiculous amount of work for no real gain. Get some d-con for the mice.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Then I would pull the inslation out from between the joists, do some perimeter insulation (spray, board whatever the budget can carry) and see about getting some air down there.

That's what I'm thinking. Budget won't cover what the Pest company wants to charge me to replace everything...

Taking it out and replacing with spray foam sounds like a ridiculous amount of work for no real gain. Get some d-con for the mice.

The company that the seller was using did a half ass job of replacing the vents under the house and mice made their way in and took all the neighbors bird seed and made a massive feast pile.

I hired a company to come evaluate and put commercial bait boxes out.

[basinbeater]

Let the spiders take up residence in the corners of the entrance to keep the bugs out.

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[Skistack]

Yeah, seal those vents. Crawlspace s/b be considered part of the living space environment.

We had a huge mold problem in our crawlspace because it was sealed from rest of the house. Moisture got in through an improperly sealed hole for the gas line and had no place to go. Fixed the leak, tore out all the bats, glued foam board to the cinder block wall, heavy duty vapor barrier on the floor and up the sides of the walls, open the crawlspace to the rest of the house to disburse any moisture that gets through.

[Vt-Freeheel]

The pest company is contracting this job quote?
If so, fuck them and shop it out yourself. Batts suck on many levels including rodent nesting and holding moisture causing mold and sometimes rot.
And the vents let that humid summer air in to condense on the cooler surfaces in your crawl space.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Yeah, seal those vents. Crawlspace s/b be considered part of the living space environment.

I new a company that did this in my home town. They would air tight the whole area. I never thought of venting it to the inside of the house.

The pest company is contracting this job quote?
If so, fuck them and shop it out yourself. Batts suck on many levels including rodent nesting and holding moisture causing mold and sometimes rot.
And the vents let that humid summer air in to condense on the cooler surfaces in your crawl space.

Yea it's their quote to do the clean out. I told momma what it would cost. So needless to say I'll be doing it my self lol.

[Skistack]

So needless to say I'll be doing it my self lol.

Hope you like spiders and cobwebs! I wore Tyvek coveralls, goggles, gloves and a N95 respirator.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Hope you like spiders and cobwebs! I wore Tyvek coveralls, goggles, gloves and a N95 respirator.

what pains me the most is I'm 6' 6" and 250.... getting stuck would be lame.

[iceman]

Once you insulate it and put a vent and return in it, having it as conditioned space will cost almost nothing going forward, you should do that. All the mold and related issues you will avoid will make it well worth the moderate initial cost.

[Skistack]

"

what pains me the most is I'm 6' 6" and 250.... getting stuck would be lame.

5'9" and 150, it still sucked ass.

[Shredhead]

what pains me the most is I'm 6' 6" and 250.... getting stuck would be lame.

That’s why you hire a 5’6” 125 lbs. Mexican.
I had two of them today, all over my roof with 30 ft ladders.

If I’m going to fuck my self up, I’m going to be having fun doing it.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Once you insulate it and put a vent and return in it, having it as conditioned space will cost almost nothing going forward, you should do that. All the mold and related issues you will avoid will make it well worth the moderate initial cost.

I'm hoping to sell the joint in 5 years or so..... I don't know how far I want to take it.
but who knows it's a solid old house that fits us as a family. It's just not the castle on the hill I want to die in lol

"

5'9" and 150, it still sucked ass.

Thrilled. I'll order the tyvek suit and mask for sure!

[iceman]

I'm hoping to sell the joint in 5 years or so..... I don't know how far I want to take it.
but who knows it's a solid old house that fits us as a family. It's just not the castle on the hill I want to die in lol

Time has a way of going by, my man. Up to you.

It's the kind of shit that goes to quality of life but not to resale value, it depends what you want.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

Time has a way of going by, my man. Up to you.

It's the kind of shit that goes to quality of life but not to resale value, it depends what you want.

for sure. I have no idea what I want to do with the place. But I dig all the ideas.

[TheSilverSurfer]

Yeah, seal those vents. Crawlspace s/b be considered part of the living space environment.

We had a huge mold problem in our crawlspace because it was sealed from rest of the house. Moisture got in through an improperly sealed hole for the gas line and had no place to go. Fixed the leak, tore out all the bats, glued foam board to the cinder block wall, heavy duty vapor barrier on the floor and up the sides of the walls, open the crawlspace to the rest of the house to disburse any moisture that gets through.

This is pretty much exactly what I'm about to do to our house. Not really wanting to do it myself, but I have a feeling that's what's going to happen.

[iceman]

This is pretty much exactly what I'm about to do to our house. Not really wanting to do it myself, but I have a feeling that's what's going to happen.

So what the fuck happened in Panama? Come clean.

[Norseman]

OP... what does the residential code prescribe?