Crawl Space Doors
Crawl space doors are a super-effective repair solution that you might want to utilize in your home. What can these doors do for you?
The Benefits of Crawl Space Doors
If you already have an external entry to your crawl space, you are almost certainly familiar with crawl space doors.
When you have a well-fitting crawl space door, you’ll be able to maintain your crawl space as a whole because it’ll be easier to get in and out of the crawl space. Plus, you’re less likely to have issues with pests and bugs coming in.
Here’s what you need to know about healthier crawl space doors.
What Can a Well-Fitting Crawl Space Door Do for You?
There are many benefits to a crawl space door that fits well and works as it’s intended to. That includes benefits you may never have thought of before.
- Reduce High Electricity Bills
Up to 50% of the air you breathe may come from your crawl space. This is exactly why a well-fitting crawl space door can reduce very high electric bills. If you have a loose-fitting crawl space door, you’re much more likely to have issues with outside air coming into your crawl space and moving up into the rest of the room. You have to condition that air, which will require a lot of electricity usage. Removing the entry point of the air in the crawl space will help reduce electricity usage.
- Waterproof Your Crawl Space
A crawl space needs waterproofing if you’re going to maintain it in any way long term.
Crawl space doors need to fit well. Otherwise, you’re going to introduce all sorts of water and moisture into the crawl space.
- Help with Pests and Bugs
Pests and bugs are both frustrating things to deal with in a crawl space.
That’s why you might want to consider a well-fitting crawl space door as one part of avoiding pests. Pests are great at getting in through even the tiniest entrances; an ill-fitting crawl space door doesn’t have to leave a lot of room for it to be easy for bugs and even rodents to get inside and start causing problems.
Solutions that fit into your life
Why Might You Need Crawl Space Doors?
There are several reasons you may need to add or replace your crawl space doors. Here are a few of the reasons crawl space doors may be important in your home.
- Entry to the Crawl Space
Gaining easier entry to the crawl space is one completely valid reason many homeowners will add crawl space doors to the outside of the home. If you don’t have crawl space doors, chances are that the crawl space entrance is inside your home. While this doesn’t have to be a really big deal, it can be very frustrating when you’re trying to manage your crawl space.
Instead of always having to enter the crawl space through your home, you may want to try and gain entry to the crawl space from the outside. This can also be helpful for crawl space repair experts, who don’t want to drag debris and other things through your home in case of an incident like a flood or a burst pipe.
- Quick Egress
Getting out of your crawl space is just as important as getting into it. Although this isn’t as important as an exit from the basement, an exit from the crawl space can be important if something goes very wrong and there’s a problem like a burst pipe or even a concern with foundation collapse.
In these situations, you want to make sure that whoever’s in the crawl space can get out as quickly and as easily as possible. Make sure you have an exit through the outside, which is what crawl space doors are for.
- Avoiding Unintentional Entry
When choosing a crawl space door, you also want to make sure you’re avoiding the possibility of unintentional entry. Although it’s extremely rare, you’ve probably seen stories of homeowners who found out there was someone living in their crawl space for days and even weeks without ever having found out the person was there.
This is, of course, unlikely to happen to you. However, you still don’t want someone snooping around in your basement without permission, regardless of their intentions with your crawl space. If you’re adding a crawl space door to the outside of your home, you need to make sure you have a door that can stand up to attempts at entry without permission.
FAQs About Crawl Space Doors
There are differences between crawl space doors. For the most part, the main differences have to do with whether or not the door works effectively. A low-quality crawl space door might not help you with the problems that you thought it would.
- Cheap Materials
One thing that can impact the quality of your crawl space door is if it uses cheap materials. Unfortunately, if you purchase a cheap crawl space door on your own, you usually have no way of knowing how well it will work, even if you purchase an expensive one.
When you repair things of this nature alone, you’re likely to run into more issues. Doors can be poorly installed, can be designed to combat problems that you’re not facing, or they may completely ignore other issues that your crawl space needs protection from. If you allow an expert to assess your home, provide a solution, and complete the installation, you can be sure it’s a high-grade fix that’s specifically designed to work for your home.
- Poor Installation
The installation process is another thing that you need to think about. If you’re trying to install a crawl space door on your own, you may end up damaging the area around the site or installing the door incorrectly. In contrast, an expert has often installed hundreds or thousands of doors throughout their career.
Problems with the installation process can completely undo the benefit that a crawl space door is supposed to offer. Even if you have a high-quality door, you also need a high-quality installation. With both of these things, you’ll end up with an effective crawl space door that serves your home well.
Crawl space doors and crawl space vents are both things that can cause serious concerns in your crawl space. You need both a well-fitting crawl space door and crawl space vent covers if you’re going to have an effective crawl space waterproofing solution. Otherwise, you’re going to have problems.
- Air Entering from the Outside
Doors and vents can both cause issues with the entry of air from the outside. Air coming in from the outside is extremely bad for the crawl space, as it can cause all sorts of problems. For example, you can end up with crawl space condensation, especially if the air outside tends to have high levels of humidity.
You want a completely airtight crawl space if possible. That means you need to invest in crawl space vent covers and crawl space encapsulation for a healthy result. With these two things and a tight-fitting crawl space door, you can better avoid air that comes into your crawl space from the outside.
- Crawl Space Moisture
Outside air in your crawl space is troublesome because it can increase the moisture levels. When your crawl space has higher levels of moisture, you’ll also find water damage, wet insulation, and even poor air quality in your home because of high indoor moisture. This can persist throughout all levels of your house, not just in your crawl space.
If the problem is allowed to continue unchecked, this can lead to mold, mildew, and wood rot, which can then cause problems like sunken floors. Make sure that you’re avoiding issues with moisture in your crawl space to avoid other problems.
This is a common question that we get. Many homeowners worry about the state of their crawl space doors. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your crawl space door is functioning properly.
- Look for Secondary Signs
First off, you can look for secondary signs that may imply the crawl space door isn’t fitting well and isn’t working. That may include waterproofing concerns, bugs, rodents, and other issues. Generally, if your crawl space seems like a place that would be unhealthy to live in, there’s a problem.
These secondary signs will indicate a problem that you should pay attention to. When you notice these in advance, you can look for the root problem and keep it from escalating into even more secondary concerns. Remember, your crawl space’s health impacts the rest of the home in a very dramatic way.
- Get an Expert Inspection
Looking for secondary signs isn’t necessarily the best way to know whether your crawl space door has a problem. In fact, by the time you notice secondary signs, you might have a serious problem already. Getting rid of mold and mildew problems, for example, is much more difficult than just preventing that mold and mildew growth in the first place.
To ensure crawl space benefits, you’re going to want to talk to an expert. They can inspect your crawl space door and let you know whether you need to replace it. Even if your crawl space door is just fine, a crawl space expert will be able to look throughout the area and spot other potential issues.
Installing a crawl space door is not a job you should take lightly. The crawl space door is an important element of the crawl space and making a mistake here could seriously impact your home’s health overall. Your options for adding a crawl space door might be less open than you’d think.
- DIY Installation
A DIY installation is something that you might be considering for your crawl space doors. If you’ve installed doors in your home or think of yourself as a handy person, it’s natural to assume a DIY crawl space door couldn’t be that difficult to install, right? Wrong
Even just a few mistakes can cause the crawl space to lose its airtight nature. This can result in water damage, rising humidity, and mold growth, just to name a few. Over time, wood rot may set in and damage the structural integrity of your walls, floors, and support beams. The risks of performing a DIY installation outweigh the benefits.
- Expert Installation
If you want to make sure your crawl space stays healthy and well-maintained, you’ll need to talk to a crawl space expert. They can help you find the right crawl space door and install it appropriately. From start to finish, a crawl space expert will be the best option for spotting problems, resolving damage, and preparing for the future.
Even if you already have a crawl space door, consider scheduling an appointment with a local Groundworks expert. They can make sure your current door is as solid as possible, take a look through your crawl space, and help you fix any other problems you might be experiencing. This is by far the best way to maximize your crawl space’s health.
Maintain Your Crawl Space More Effectively with Well-Fitting Crawl Space Doors
When you have well-fitting crawl space doors, you’re much more likely to have a healthy and generally well-maintained crawl space. That’s because when you have the resources you need to keep your crawl space healthy, you’re much more likely to use them. Well-fitting crawl space doors are just one example of crawl space resources that can help.
Talk to an expert in your area today to learn about how you can add crawl space doors to your home more effectively.