The climate throughout the Pacific Northwest makes it an excellent place to live. However, it also poses a variety of maintenance challenges for homeowners. If you own a home in the Pacific Northwest, you could find yourself dealing with a variety of crawl space issues. Watch out for these factors that could impact your crawl space integrity.
Humidity in Coastal Areas
The Pacific Northwest includes areas that have varied climates. However, the majority of the population lives along the coast, where the Pacific Ocean has a significant influence over local climate and weather. This is wonderful when it comes to providing moderate temperatures, but it also contributes to high humidity.
Humidity can be a real problem for crawl spaces. As the warm air outside enters the crawlspace, it can begin to cool. That means it will hold less water, causing condensation. This can lead to water accumulating in the crawl space even without any rain.
Due to this high humidity, your crawl space could have damp conditions at almost any time of year. The persistent humidity can lead to all kinds of mold, mildew, and fungus growth. It can cause wooden structures to rot and impact other building materials as well, such as causing metal to rust more quickly.
If you’re anywhere near the coast, humidity is one of your top concerns when it comes to taking care of your crawl space. You might consider options such as a vapor barrier to prevent moisture accumulation from taking such a significant toll.
Fluctuating Temperatures and Your Crawl Space
The ideal scenario for just about any type of structure is to always maintain the same temperature. Of course, this simply isn’t a realistic expectation. No matter where your home is, you’ll experience temperature fluctuations between day and night and throughout the year. However, the Pacific Northwest experiences this more severely.
The difference in daytime and nighttime temperatures is conducive to condensation in your crawl space. When air warms during the day, it can absorb more moisture and become humid. As it cools at night, moisture condenses onto surfaces, leaving water behind.
These temperature changes also affect your crawlspace in other ways. Construction materials expand just a little bit when they warm up. It’s barely noticeable, but it happens over and over in a cycle of warming and cooling.
Eventually, this can lead to the formation of small cracks and gaps.
Those gaps can allow moisture to penetrate deep inside construction materials. Once inside, they can cause mold growth and rot. Options like insulation can help prevent this issue, and vapor barriers can keep moisture out in the first place.
Heavy Rain Can Pose a Problem
One of the hallmarks of the Pacific Northwest is the substantial rainfall that many areas receive. As humid air loaded with moisture rolls in from the Pacific Ocean, the Cascade Mountains serve as a barrier and halt progression further inland. With nowhere else to go, that moisture eventually falls as precipitation.
Whenever it rains, all that water has to go somewhere. It naturally flows to lower ground, which can often mean your crawlspace. Ideally, your home will have proper drainage to divert water away. However, this isn’t always the case. Your drainage may not be designed properly, or it could have developed issues over the years.
Your crawlspace may flood during rain and have standing water sit there for some time. Without direct sunlight, it can take a long time to dry out. The standing water can soak into construction materials directly or simply cause high humidity for extended periods of time. In either case, it can contribute to rot and mold growth.
The flow and accumulation of water can also lead to soil and gravel washout. You could find yourself with serious foundation problems over time. Frequent flooding due to rain is something that can affect the entire structure of your home.
Springtime Flooding
While the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest don’t get too much snow, springtime flooding is still a serious concern throughout the region. During the spring, snow that accumulated during the winter months will melt and inevitably flow downhill. While you might not see snow near your home, there’s plenty in the Cascade Mountains.
The snow accumulation in the higher altitudes of the Cascade Mountains can be very significant. As it melts, the flow of water can be unpredictable and can overrun both natural and planned drainage around your home. You could find yourself facing an annual recurrence of flooding in your crawlspace.
Even if it hasn’t happened before, you could still be at risk. An unexpected rainstorm at the same time as high water levels could lead to excessive flooding. Options such as sump pump installation can help prevent serious flooding by pumping out your crawl space whenever water reaches a set level.
Mold and Mildew in the Pacific Northwest
Whether due to high humidity, rain, or meltwater, your crawlspace is likely always at risk of mold and mildew growth. The Pacific Northwest is among the regions with the highest risk due to its unique climate. The combination of high humidity with typically mild temperatures allows mold and mildew to thrive in crawlspaces and attics.
Mold needs a water supply to grow, whether from high humidity in the air or from wood or other materials saturated with water. It also needs shade from direct sunlight, which your crawl space has plenty of.
Higher summer heat can prevent mold growth, but summers typically don’t reach those temperatures. Freezing temperatures can also halt mold growth, but those are also rare.
Given the specific risk of mold in the region, any homeowner in the Pacific Northwest should consider taking additional steps to protect their crawlspace.
Can Your Crawl Space Face These Challenges?
While the climate and weather in the Pacific Northwest always pose a threat to crawl spaces, there are steps you can take to protect your home. Insulation, vapor barrier installation, sump pump installation, and more can protect against the impact of humidity and precipitation. Get your free inspection from Attic Projects to find out which steps can safeguard your crawlspace.
