crawl space venting

this house has about 3 foot crawl space under it, it is raised off of ground level

there is a shop attatched to about haof the living space to the side *like the letter L

so where the shop is is heated so under the house the crawl space had an insulated wall
built to keep heat in the shop

now the other side of this wall there is no venting and i think moisture is being trapped in there
and starting to cause wood rot. should i drill holes in the conctret walls to allow some air movement?

suggestions would sure help me out thanks

 

Installing some actual crawl space vents (I like the kind that can be closed) would be more effective than drilled holes, unless you were planning on making the stem walls look like Swiss cheese (lots and lots of holes). The vents aren't expensive, but will require some effort, making the openings by sawcutting and chipping out the concrete walls.

 

cutting the concrete is not a big job for me but i have no idea of what a crawl space vent is? are they available in round so i could core drill, or are they rectangle like a floor vent? are tehy available in teh big box stores?

thanks

 

You should be able to buy them at most big box and hardware stores. All the ones I'm familiar with are 8"x16" so they will fit in a typical block foundation. There are several different styles with the more expensive ones closing automatically. Depending on type I think they run between $5 - $12. They do make some round soffit vents but I don't know how effective they would be in a foundation.

 

thanks mark i'll look into them. Now? 1 on each wall? or what is suggested

 

Before you start drilling or cutting, what is inside and above that crawl space? To vent a crawl space in cold country should then be followed with insulating the floors and protecting everything exposed down there from the cold. A more accepted approach is to seal and insulate the crawl walls, cover the ground with a vapor barrier and then open the crawl to the conditioned air within the home.
Here is a link with some information:
Info-512: Crawlspace Insulation — Building Science Information

Bud

 

while I"m a fan of sealing and conditioning the crawl space, here's an answer to your question about 'what is a vent':
16 in. x 8 in. Foundation Vent Automatic in Black-FVRABL at The Home Depot

 

so if i go with this insulation on the inside of the crawlspace walls, before i put down the vapor barrier on the dirt floor, would i be wise to also insulate this and actually blow some heat down there to help keep the floors warm? the floors were never insulated.

 

First, is the floor dirt of concrete?
As for insulation the floor, one of the unique aspects of a basement or crawl floor is that the heat has a long way to travel to escape and that long distance amounts to resistance which is essentially insulation. The exception being the perimeter, so laying down some foam insulation, 2' to 4' around that perimeter, isn't bad. The deeper the floor is below the outside grade the less insulation is needed.

Some codes will allow rigid insulation like Thermax (the foil faced stuff from Dow) to go up directly without concern for a fire barrier. Others are less concerned about a crawlspace, so check with local codes to see what your requirements are.

Bud

 

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