Finishing a crawl space

[Anonymous]

We're looking at a house that has a 4-5 foot high crawl space under an addition. It's a pretty big space and we'd love to be able to use it for storage. The floor is currently dirt and it is vented to the outside. We don't want to dig it out, just weatherize it. It doesn't need to be heated or cooled either, basement temperature is fine.

Any idea how to do this or how much it would cost? The rest of the basement needs a new french drain and sump pump, so I'm guessing this space may also have water issues if untreated, though it may be okay since it is several feet higher and partially above ground.

[Anonymous]

If you are going to weatherize it - add insulation, vapor barrier and remove the venting - you will need to condition the crawl space or you will get mold problems.

[Anonymous]

Is a good dehumidifier enough to condition the space? We'd rather not pay to heat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is a good dehumidifier enough to condition the space? We'd rather not pay to heat it.

If you are going to treat it like a basement, you need to condition it (heating and cooling) like a basement. Can you open up the crawl space with an open access to the basement portion? That would probably provide enough conditioning if you were to close up the vents and insulate the walls.

The building code requires that crawl spaces be treated in 2 different ways:

1. no insulation and must have open vents for cross ventilation to allow for proper air flow.
2. insulation on interior walls (min. R-13) with no open vents and it must be heated and cooled like it is a full basement.