How To Identify The Right Ventilation For Your Sub Floor

How To Identify The Right Ventilation For Your Sub Floor

A well ventilated home is not only comfortable to stay in but it keeps you away from the dangers that come with dampness. There are many risks that are linked with staying in a damp home. You can easily get respiratory complications and your home can get infested by termites which can cause serious damage. You would then be required to repair your home which can be very costly.Your sub floor is a part of the home that can easily be forgotten when you are planning on how to ventilate your home. In order to ensure that your entire home is safe for habitation, it is important to get the right sub floor ventilation for your home.When Should You Consider Sub Floor Ventilation?You should consider having your sub floor inspected if your home has a musty smell and you notice mould on the walls. If the inspection reveals that your under floor is damp, it means that there is a high amount of moisture. It is important to immediately install sub floor ventilation since the moisture will encourage the spread of fungi. You will also have to deal with bacteria which breed very well in damp areas.A damp under floor will encourage the growth of mold which causes the development of fungal spores. These spores when inhaled cause respiratory problems such as wheezing, coughing and difficulty in breathing. Moisture in your under floor will damage your home which will encourage the presence of cockroaches and rats.Which Type Of Ventilation Should You Install?The first thing you should do once you discover that your under floor is not well ventilated is to get an expert to calculate the airflow in that area. This exercise will enable the experts to know how much ventilation will be required to keep the sub floor dry. The calculation of the airflow will also enable the experts to know where to place the vents and the fans.Some considerations have to be made before suitable ventilation is put in place. The location of your home and the type of soil on which it is built on will determine the system to be installed. If your home is prone to flooding, this will mean that the vents should be placed high enough to avoid under floor flooding.Importance Of Sub Floor VentilationSub floor ventilation is important as it gets rid of the moist air from the under floor and replaces it with fresh air from the outside which is dry. Vents are installed on the walls of the building in order to allow free air flow into the sub floor. However, this free airflow may not be sufficient to keep your under floor dry. You can therefore use fans which will push the moist air out and will allow fresh drier air to come in.Normally the fans are installed in strategic positions so that a cross flow of air is created. This is where the fans that are to bring in fresh air are placed on one side and the ones that expel the moist air are placed on the opposite side. Alternatively, a fan can be connected to a pipe so that the air is expelled to the outside through the pipe.