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Do not waste your money would be my advice. You can put in a 100% vapor barrier yourself for $50 and add a dehumidifier in the crawl for about $150. This will do 95% of the job a sealed crawlspace will. Sealed crawls are nice but the 7-10k price tag just isn't worth it. (not too mention higher heating and cooling bills due to conditioning the crawlspace air)
NCsand...just dig up some clay and carry it into the crawl. You can lay it on in the low areas and grade as I mentioned previously. Flecks of mold on joists is extremely common...probably 8/10 crawls I am in have that condition. Mold is everywhere Cure the moisture and the mold goes dormant.
There are expensive solutions to just about everything, but more often than not easy/cheap solutions which will adequately measure up.
If anyone wants further detail feel free to message me and I will bore you with all the information you want lol.
Do not waste your money would be my advice. You can put in a 100% vapor barrier yourself for $50 and add a dehumidifier in the crawl for about $150. This will do 95% of the job a sealed crawlspace will. Sealed crawls are nice but the 7-10k price tag just isn't worth it. (not too mention higher heating and cooling bills due to conditioning the crawlspace air)
NCsand...just dig up some clay and carry it into the crawl. You can lay it on in the low areas and grade as I mentioned previously. Flecks of mold on joists is extremely common...probably 8/10 crawls I am in have that condition. Mold is everywhere Cure the moisture and the mold goes dormant.
Thanks for the words of advice! So basically you’re saying most houses in the area have mold to some degree?
That heat exchanger should still be under warranty. They typically cover them for 10 years(the labor however is not covered which would run a few hundred bucks)
A 7 year old furnace is relatively efficient so I wouldnt replace the whole unit. If it was 20 years old then it would be a different story.
The crawlspace is an easy fix provided its not 12" tall . Just level the soil with a slight grade towards your positive drain location(the low point in the crawlspace). This is a very typical problem. It is nice that we have finally had some rain....as an inspector, recent rain can make obvious some issues that may not be in dry conditions.
Do you find less structual/foundation issues in older homes?
How about in newer condos or townhomes?
Thanks
Do you find less structual/foundation issues in older homes?
How about in newer condos or townhomes?
Thanks
a little of each. it tends to be a different set of problems depending on age. older homes may have had issues with moisture intrusion, or sagging/settling while newer homes would typically have structural mistakes by the builder as opposed to time related problems.
The water issue is not a small issue, depending on how big the puddle is. Even though small amounts of mold in the crawl space is common on older homes, you don't want it to continue to grow and become a problem. The $10k quote is going overboard on fixing the drainage issue. The foundation should already have a drain system per building code. More than likely if you do what others said above about filling the low area so it will not hold water it will fix the problem. I would recomend having another opinion.
The current drought we are having in NC is causing a lot of the foundation settling and cracking that has happened recently. With the water table being so low in some areas it has actually changed the properties of the soils to which they have settled just enough to cause foundation cracking/settling.
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Cure the moisture and the mold goes dormant. 
