Drying crawl space ???

[1st choice restoration]

What's ur procedure for drying crawl space under houses with just one place to crawl in located outside? The hole to crawl in is very small..

 

[Desk Jockey]

We've done it many different ways. First how bad is it? If its very wet you're need heat. E-Tes or Firebird over several days with a little airmovement will dry it.

When there is no reasonable access we've disengaged carpet and pulled up subfloor for access. If you go that route make sure to establish a critical barrier and have so neg air.

You can also use a desiccant but it will be slower than the heat. You can use a refrigerant but I would leave the unit in the home and take a hvac boot loose and duct your processed air down into the crawl.

 

[dealtimeman]

A few prochem or velo style dryers and an indirect fired heater positive with ducts in and and an axial airmmover with ducting pulling(negative) after heat rise has been accomplished. Very effective. And very profitable.

 

[Desk Jockey]

When wet enough to have affect on the indoor environment (warping of floors) average dry down bill is around 5k. Smaller less, larger more.

Etes is much cheaper than propane even if takes a little longer. You can burn through 300lbs of propane fast especially in winter time.

But we're just a budget drying company not like Lockhart who is rich & famous.

 

[dealtimeman]

Just famous not anywhere near rich yet!!!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

infamous is actually more acurate

 

[Jeremy N]

I once cut a hole in the subfloor and ducted a big air scrubber that was venting in heat. In that case I had the right amount of vent and pressure in the chamber. I had to leave it several days. It ended up being and easy money maker.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Most of the one's we do are bad. We rarely get an easy one but we do a few a year and so we are familiar with the process.

If it were a large area and entirely saturated we would setup our TES trailer. It will take it from quick sand like mud to hard as concrete on your knees in a few days. But it is much more costly our propane is actually cheap right now, around $1.50 a gallon but to dry it it could cost you $500.00 in propane. Another thing if their water supply comes in from the crawl space, their cold water, could be warm water due to the heat in drying.

As I mentioned many ways to skin a cat.

 

[dealtimeman]

Heat it up as quick and safely as you can then start pumping air in and pulling same or less amount of air out.

 

[Desk Jockey]

start pumping air in and pulling same or less amount of air out.

Fresh from outside. Caution, pulling in makeup air from the home can put out pilot lights and cause other issues.

 

[dealtimeman]

Fresh from outside, negative from isolated drying chamber. I would do what ever I had to do as to not have to affect the Iaq let alone anything else inside of the structure, and you know this!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I know but if I keep making you jump, you'll soon get tired of this.

 

[Greg Cole]

Whatever you do DO NOT USE FANS! You risk contaminating the inhabited areas.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We do all the time.

You need negative pressure on the crawl space, positive pressure can allow contaminated air to back flow into the home. If need (critical proof) be a manometer can used which will print out the pascals being pulled. But anything can be used to feel a pull from the indoor to the crawl space.

As long as you have control of the air flow you're fine.

 

[Jeremy N]

I had one that had a few thousand gallons of sewage under the house with renters occupying the property. It was so bad that you could smell it from the street. The entire front yard was a swamp with a nice steady small stream flowing down the gutter. Apparently this had been going on for a long time. The renters seemed unphased about the whole deal. They refused to leave the property after being told everything that was going on. So we had them sign all sorts of paperwork and we got to work. It ended up being really easy and really profitable. All of the labor was subbed to some really happy Mexicans. Crazy deal.

 

[Desk Jockey]

All of the labor was subbed to some really happy Mexicans.

Ohh man you fooked those Mexican's over didn't you? No PPE either I bet. Wrong man you are sooo wrong!

 

[Jeremy N]

Ohh man you fooked those Mexican's over didn't you? No PPE either I bet. Wrong man you are sooo wrong!

It is a wild world out here in north Mexico.

Basically, it was here's 8k and then I sped away from the scene ASAP...

 

[Desk Jockey]

The Wild Wild West.

 

[Desk Jockey]

When you're tired of Cowboy'n through it or if the job is critical to the point that there could be some litigation involved, I recommend a manometer be used.

The manometer read the neg air pressure in pascal scale and prints as proof that you maintained neg air pressure over a period of time. To be safe, I would not pull more than three pascals from the built environment.

We don't use it all the time but when you have a client that is overly concerned, its nice to be able to prove you had control of the air.

 

[Jeremy N]

DISCLAIMER!!!

Everyone reading this should be very very careful with this type of work. Use every precaution needed to make sure that you protect yourself and your customers. Measure the risks that you take carefully.

 

[Jeremy N]

When you're tired of Cowboy'n through it or if the job is critical to the point that there could be some litigation involved, I recommend a manometer be used.

The manometer read the neg air pressure in pascal scale and prints as proof that you maintained neg air pressure over a period of time. To be safe, I would not pull more than three pascals from the built environment.

We don't use it all the time but when you have a client that is overly concerned, its nice to be able to prove you had control of the air.

I'm glad you showed me a picture of that. I am going to make one out of cardboard and walk around the house with it. I love to astound people with my sophistication.

 

[Desk Jockey]

You better block out our name off the meter.

 

[Jeremy N]

You better block out our name off the meter.

I'm gonna put a Chavez Patent sticker on it.

 

[bob vawter]

spiders an' cobwebs...uhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

ohh and mouse turds too!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'm gonna put a Chavez Patent sticker on it.

That's a $600.00 meter but you can get a digital manometer off ebay for around $60.00.

It wouldn't have a printer but you could take a picture of the pascals being pulled and would still be handy to prove to the client or when billing an insurance company.

 

[Desk Jockey]

spiders an' cobwebs...uhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

ohh and mouse turds too!

Naww I'd be more worried about the snakes, opossums, racoons.

Nothing like being in a tight space and meeting a critter eye. That's why they pay us the big bucks!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Seriously I would never go into a crawl space by yourself. Consider being roped off and tied off even if not a true "Confined Space". At the very least have someone outside or up top to keep in conversation with you and if necessary pull you out should something happen.

Most crawl spaces have good ventilation but we're paid big bucks before to have the air monitored and a crane setup for safety when working in a confined space sub room. It was an extra expense for the job but it qualified as an OSHA Confined Space.

 

[Greg Cole]

When you're tired of Cowboy'n through it or if the job is critical to the point that there could be some litigation involved, I recommend a manometer be used.

The manometer read the neg air pressure in pascal scale and prints as proof that you maintained neg air pressure over a period of time. To be safe, I would not pull more than three pascals from the built environment.

We don't use it all the time but when you have a client that is overly concerned, its nice to be able to prove you had control of the air.

You da man!

 

[Greg Cole]

It is a wild world out here in north Mexico.

Basically, it was here's 8k and then I sped away from the scene ASAP...

We did one years ago that we brought a couple of "helpers" for. they both started yelling ' NO SHOVEL THE CACA NO SHOVEL THE CACA" i said $25 an hour. they said "Me shovel the caca" and got to work.....

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have no problem with my guys doing the gross nasty work. They get all the PPE they need and are compensated well enough they don't smell the odor....only the money.