A crawl space is generally that area under the floor framing of a house or business that extends a short way to the bottom. The distance is generally 24 inches in depth. This distance can vary however from 8 inches to 36 inches. The floor is usually made of dirt. There usually is barely enough room in one of these spaces to crawl, so the term Crawl Space was invented. They usually have a ton of spider webs and are dark and smell of mold. Not a pleasant place. That’s where we come in.

A crawl space that is deeper, to about 48 to 60 inches is generally called a “Michigan Basement”. These can be paved with concrete or left as dirt. Michigan Basements are used as storage of stuff. Unfortunately they are usually below ground and are susceptible to water damage. Furnaces down here can also be damaged by water. This is where we come in….

A space below the floor boards that is 7 feet deep or more is called a basement. Basements 100 years ago were not paved but were paved with concrete back in the 50’s. This was usually a thin layer just to keep the dust down and feet clean. Finishing basements has come to popularity with the invention and use of the “Sump Pump”. This is a device that can pump out any ground water that would otherwise get on the basement floor. Other wise basements are a good place to store stuff. We do a lot of work in basements and have a web site just for basement waterproofing. Click here to see Basement Waterproofing Michigan.

Oakbridge Construction Waterproofing Division knows a lot about basements and Crawl Spaces. This web site is dedicated to the Crawl Space. Read on to find out more information. If you don’t have time to read call now at 248 522 1516 and get a free estimate.

The 25-year-old banker had stopped by his friend’s place near Federal Boulevard and West 112th Avenue to say hi. He was wearing flip-flops.

His friend, who asked to remain anonymous, was tending to a leaky pipe beneath the home while Stafford chatted with his friend’s wife.

“Thirty seconds later, I heard what sounded like the yelp of a small, frightened child,” Stafford said Monday.

His friend had spotted a snake in the muddy crawl space.

“Dude, you’ve got to go get it,” Stafford recalled his friend saying.

With a flashlight and a stick of firewood, Stafford climbed into the crawl space and onto the blue tarp that covered the muddy surface. The tarp moved beneath him; the floor writhed with bull snakes — 41 of them by the time Stafford got through stuffing them into a trash bag.

“They were moving pretty slow, so I think they were still hibernating,” he said.

An obvious crack was likely their entrance way, said Stafford, a native of Texas who spent last year traveling in the bush in Australia, where snake encounters were common, he said.

His friend doesn’t want to be named because he doesn’t want to discuss the discovery, Stafford said.

“We went out for a beer afterward,” said Stafford, who took the bag of snakes to an open field several miles out of town.

That was a smart move, said Mel Horne, owner of Alpha Animal Control in Broomfield, who removes snakes and other varmints for a living. Snakes can find their way back to a comfortable spot unless they’re taken several miles away, he said.

Bull snakes and garter snakes are known to hide in cool, dark spaces beneath homes in the northern metro area, he said.

Bull snakes, often called gopher snakes, are not poisonous and feed on field mice, large insects, lizards and other snakes.

They grow large — up to 6 feet long — so their fright factor is their greatest risk to humans, especially since they resemble a rattlesnake and their snorelike hiss is often mistaken for a rattle.

From the Vail Daily News

This can be caused by a slow to react sump pump if you have one.
Maybe yours needs to be changed. On the other hand if yours
is pumping water out before it gets half way up there is a good
chance that your drain tiles around the outside of the basement
have filled up with silt and sand and can no longer handle all
the water trying to get in.

We can fix both things but it is your duty to call right away
and get the ball rolling. The longer you wait the more mold
builds up. Mold starts within 24 hours of the carppet getting wet.
The padding is the first place. Then the carpet itself. After a
couple weeks the house could smell so bad that you would have
to get out for your own good.

This advice is from my waterproofing page but it applies to the crawl space moisture as well.

Give me a call at 586 703 0112

The 1st thing I would address in getting rid of mold is ventilation make sure the air is moving around or else the air will become stagnant. If you do have mold there are various types, some are toxic molds others are harmless. If you think you have mold and can not see it i would recommend having a mold remediation company come look at your situation. If the mold problem is not taken care of this can cause serious health problems for someone with mold allergies or asthma. (It happened to my wife)

The moist damp air generally gravitates to the basement or crawlspace thus making the the air in the basement/crawlspace cooler than the rest of the home. A lot of the times this causes condensation because warmer air is hitting cooler air. For example, on a 90 degree day if you place a cold beer outside the outside of the bottle begins to sweat, that’s condensation. Now when this happens in the basement or crawlspace it causes metal to rust, pipes sweating, carpets or furniture feel moist, and could cause structural damage. The basement is cooler because it is underground and warmer air rises. If you have any type of water damage that has occurred you can rest assured if its not taken care of mold and mildew will not be far behind.