How to fix crawl space issues?
My home is in OKC, Oklahoma and is built over a vented crawl space with only about 16″ – 18″ of space from ground to the bottom of the joists. It was built in 1960 to the standards of the time. My main issue today is dealing with condensation on the wood around my vent and access openings. While I realize closing everything off and installing a vapor barrier is ideal, this could prove to be a near impossible retrofit given the 1400 sq ft area and limited headroom. Most of the wood appears fine, but I am concerned about the ridge having this condensation issue. Interestingly, most of the vents are closed and the two that aren’t don’t appear to have the condensation issue. Any good alternatives? Thanks
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You need to explain this better. Do I understand that you are noticing condensation around the crawlspace vents and crawlspace access hatch, but not on the floor framing above the crawlspace? What do you mean by "concerned about the ridge"? What ridge? If the closed vents aren't showing condensation, then where is it showing?
Let me clarify. I have condensation around my crawl space access door (unvented) and several vents that have been closed. I have two other vents that are open and there is not a condensation problem there. Condensation is not on the framing above the crawl space. It is mainly on the rim joists and protrudes onto the framing bottom edge maybe a foot out. Will installing open vents and a vented access door solve much of this issue? Thanks
It's not impossible to install a ground vapor barrier with that much clearance, and if you're seeing condensation at rim joists and somewhat on the floor joists I would advise doing so.
Once that's accomplished, you'd probably be better off closing all the vents and allowing the crawl space to be partly conditioned by the heat loss from the floor to prevent condensation.