My house doesn't have a basement. Its 100% crawl space. Its damp and I layed a vapor barrier a few years ago. Is a vapor barrier enough to prevent mold build up? How do you determine if there is enough ventilation in a crawlspace? Its about 1600 sq feet and there is a vent on all 4 walls (about 6x12" vents). Thanks, Shawn

I'm finishing my basement, and just got the permit (Illinois). A few questions for the experts as I plan and begin framing. Hopefully I'm not asking too many questions at once! 1) My village says that I have to have an outlet every 12 feet, pretty standard. I understand how to compute a circuit using volts x amps = watts. However, there are going to be many, many outlets in my basement that simply are probably never going to be used for anything, and will only be there just to meet code. How may rarely used outlets am I allowed to have on one 20 amp circuit? I don't know how to figure this out as they will probably never carry a load. 2) My village says that each room has to have a cold air return. Generally, what do I have to do to meet this requirement? Does the duct have to have a certain area in square feet? Can I just run a duct from each room to the main cold air return and just attach it anywhere to the main cold air return going into the furnace? What kind of ducting do I have to use? 3) If I build a full bathroom with a shower, a shower that will rarely be used, does code generally require that the bathroom have a ceiling vent fan? 4) What can I expect from my Village inspector when he/she comes for rough in/final visits? I'm definitely not an expert and this is my first major project. I took some classes at the community college on framing, plumbing, electrical, so between that and helping others finish their basements, I'm probably a guy of average skill (hopefully). Are these inspectors looking for "perfect" work? Do they tend to give the do-it-yourself guys a hard time? Thanks, Steve