Crawl Space Services

Crawl Space Service That Meets Your Needs

Reliable Basement Services provides customers with excellent basements, foundations, and crawl spaces in Chicago. If there’s one thing our years of experience have taught us, it’s that each home is unique—there is no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why our flexible and attentive services are unmatched in the city and surrounding areas. We attend to your home’s unique character and needs, ensuring we serve you with the best attention to detail. Our kind and caring team of professionals is here to walk you through the process and address your questions and concerns, putting your mind at ease. Next time you’re having an issue with your crawl space, we’re the right team for getting the job done right.

What Is A Crawl Space?

Crawl spaces are narrow, often empty spaces located between the ground and the first floor of a household. Some of them are as little as two feet long and two feet wide, which is where it gets its name. They’re a common space within homes, and they typically provide entry to the plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling systems in a household. They’re a valuable source of air circulation with homes, serving as conductors of heat that maximize the power of a home heating system.

Usually, their purposes are purely practical, a plain yet necessary space for the function of your home. However, as you read on, you’ll discover that there are many uses and exciting things you can do with your own crawl space.

How Can I Use My Crawlspace?

Crawl spaces are often an underutilized part of any home, but they come with many surprising advantages. They provide convenient points of entry to the systems of your home, which makes it easy to repair your piping, electrical wiring, heating, cooling, and interior spaces. It’s also an ideal space to install an HVAC unit, so it’s hidden away and out of sight.

Suppose your space is protected adequately from the elements. In that case, you can use it as storage for construction items such as wood planks, bricks, tiles, tools, pipes, and any material that is resistant to water or moisture damage. Take note that you can achieve all this whether your crawl space is unfinished or not.

However, proper ventilation is essential to getting the most out of your space. If you have an encapsulated crawl space (meaning, it’s completely sealed tight by a robust white plastic and a vapor barrier, safely protected by the elements), then the quality of storage space and air circulation in your household improves significantly.

What Should I Avoid with My Crawl Space?

Though these hidden spaces offer many benefits, there are inappropriate uses for them that you should avoid. The tiny size, absence of light, poor air quality, heavy moisture, and generally uncomfortable ambiance make it all but uninhabitable as a living area. Though small children may be tempted to play and use it as their secret hiding spot, you shouldn’t allow them to do so. Some spaces are hazardous and difficult to exit, leading to an inability to breathe correctly or severe injury.

These spaces are also safe havens for pests of all kinds, including cockroaches, spiders, termites, and other unpleasantries entering and exiting through your crawl space door and other remote access points. This fact alone would probably deter most people from even thinking about spending time down in their spaces.

Many moisture-resistant items are suitable for storage in a crawl space. However, clothes, books, and food will deteriorate or rot if you put them there. If you live in a wet environment, mold and mildew will thrive in unfinished spaces and will likely spread and grow on items that don’t have the proper resistance.

Though often overlooked, these spaces are often an integral part of your quality of life. They have an immense impact on the air your breath in your home, so if your area is in poor condition, so is your air. This can lead to making health conditions even worse or, in some cases, directly cause illnesses and bad health. If you want to improve your space, there are several essentials you need if you’re going to keep your space in top condition:

• Install a Crawl Space Dehumidifier: There’s nothing worse than a damp, stale, and all-around unpleasant wet crawl space due to standing water. There are many damages and risks associated with standing water within your area. It releases a revolting odor that permeates throughout your home and reduces the quality of the air you breath. Clogged water can damage your home’s foundation and end up costing you thousands of dollars for repairs. Aside from adequately sealing your space, make sure to install a dehumidifier that gets rid of surplus moisture, keeps your space dry, and reduces the amount of mold and mildew.
• Get Crawl Space Insulation: Your space plays a vital role in your home’s temperature and quality, having a massive impact on how comfortable you feel inside. The space can affect you during both hot and cold weather. If your space isn’t adequately insulated, then you’ll end up wasting air through poor circulation, which means you’ll be paying more on your heating and cooling bill for less quality. Getting the insulation you need ensures that your air circulates appropriately, keeping you comfortable and saving you big.
• Secure a Crawl Space Encapsulation: If you want to optimize your space for storage and not let it go to waste, then a proper encapsulation is required to keep your goods safe and secure. Applying white plastic all over your space, we’ll provide a vapor barrier that keeps excess moisture out, keeping it clean and free of water. This will improve the quality of the air your breath, reduce humidity, mold, and mildew, and provide an unofficial “finish” to your space that enhances its appearance.

Crawl Space Professionals Right for You

If you’re experiencing issues and need help with dehumidifying, insulating, or encapsulating your crawl space, we’re here for you. We understand how essential it is to keep your home in excellent shape. While we’re servicing you, we’ll treat you, your family, and your household with the utmost respect and care.  We put your safety as our top priority and follow the requirements and procedures to keep you secure. Better yet, we’ll provide respectful service with a free inspection and estimate. We’re here to take care of all your crawl space needs, improving your home and your quality of life. Contact us today for your free inspection.