Mold and wood rot cause many homeowners stress, headaches, empty wallets, and even death. Wood rot, or alternatively known as dry rot, is when fungi has found a nice place to nest and spread its brood, rotting the wood of your home. Have you ever seen wood that, when touched or pulled with very little force, just breaks apart? You were probably looking and touching wood rot. Though, strangely enough, it is rather wet for something called “dry rot.” Mold, on the other hand, can be sensitive to any allergic individuals but some species have been known to be poisonous. Even worse, if you are unfortunately enough to have Black Mold, it is best to stand clear of it since black mold can shut down your bodily functions, effectively killing you.
So what can you do about it? If you have either, it is best to first get rid of the issue before investing in crawl space vapor barrier material. That will come after. If you do not, lucky you! You can skip that step and go out and get some crawl space vapor barrier materials.
Its purpose is a preventative measure. Sealing an open crawl space in key locations is a great defense against leaving behind a breeding ground for both fungi and mold by closing off the crawlspace. Without it, your open crawl space can be left to the elements, letting oxygen, warmth and moisture in; the conditions fungi and mold go on vacations to.
Crawlspace vapor barrier materials can come in many shapes, sizes and types. Much of the time you will find reinforced polyethylene plastic sheeting, or by layman terms, plastic. These sheets of plastic can be made of varying thickness. If you are looking to save a few dollars, 6 mil thickness plastic vapor barrier can offer just enough to do the job. Because of the nature of prevention, 10 mil vapor barrier crawl space might be the better option.
However, it can’t be stressed enough to be absolutely careful buying it from your local hardware store. Oftentimes you will find plastic barriers that were recycled. Now, usually, recycled material does just fine, but, recycled “regrind” plastic barriers may have dirt, moisture, and even impurities which is nothing more than adding fuel to a fungi-mold metaphorical fire. Opting for reinforced crawl space plastic vapor barrier can give you a lifespan of 20 years.
