Matt,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your website. It is extremely informative and helpful to the DIYer like myself--I've read every single page you have on your site. I have a fairly serious moisture problem in my crawlspace at my home in Virginia Beach. My washer machine plumbing had a small leak that I didn't notice for many months. This has led to some pretty nasty mold growth under the crawlspace. I crawled down to check it last week and while I'm fairly certain it is structurally sound the things growing down their are horrid. I also noticed while I was down there that I have had significant pooling of rain/ground water near the front of my house. I had every intention of buying your products and doing the vapor barrier/sump/dehumidifier install myself, however after looking at my situation closely, I don't think you could pay me enough to do it. I only have about 18 inches of height and 24 individual pilings that would need wrapped. Not gonna happen. So I called a well respected local company, JES basement systems. All they do is crawlspaces and basements. They use the Clean Space line of products mentioned in some of the emails you posted on your website. I have a little over 1200 sq ft of crawspace (their estimate, which includes the walls and pilings), they will also install the 57 linear feet of drain piping, connected to the smart sump and also includes the sani dry dehumidifier. Total for the Cleanspace install. with removal of some debris, was $5k, drain piping and sump was another $2k or so, the Everseal crawspace door was $400, then another $1500 for the dehumidifier. All total it was just over $9k but they gave me a military discount which reduced it to $8510. I drank the Kool-ade and signed the contract to have them do it. It comes with a transferrable 25yr warranty on the cleanspace--maybe a gimmick, but this is a well respected local company and I believe they will stand by it.

I do have a couple of concerns, however, that I hope you can shed some light on. I asked them about cleaning the mold and they said once the humidity drops (mine is currently around 75%) to below 50%, the mold will die. This is fine, but can the dead spores still "infect" my living space? Does your company do anything to kill/remove the mold growth prior to install of the vapor barrier?

Second, once the vapor barrier is installed, it seems to me that the concrete blocks of the perimeteter wall and pilings would be subject to increased moisture levels. What is the long term effect on them? I may have a much improved crawl space, but if my house collapses, its all moot. Is this a valid concern or am I worrying about nothing?

Thank You,

Brian *****