A crawl space is often referred to as an invisible part of a home. Your visitors can not see this part from the outside or even inside of your house. This is why many homeowners don’t bother to clean this cave-like area. Though secluded and unnoticeable, a crawl space needs to be properly maintained.
Cleaning a crawl space is never fun. You will not only be dealing with the disgusting environment inside the crawl space, but you will also be working in a very limited space where your movements are quite restricted. Still, you need to keep the area clean as leaving it dirty will encourage mold and moisture to build up, impacting the overall insulation and air quality of your home.
The good news is that there are many different ways to keep your crawl space clean and free from clutters, annoying pests, disturbing mold growth, and excessive moisture. Among the most common ways to keep the crawl space clean are:
- Killing off and eliminating insect colonies
- Sealing air and water leaks
- Installing vapor barriers
- Pest removal
- Eliminating excess moisture and standing water
- Installing new insulation or replacing the old insulation
- Crawl space encapsulation or insulation
- Installing a rat slab
- Manual routine cleaning
Cleaning a crawl space requires more manual labor. Sometimes, it would feel like a construction or refurbishment project rather than just a simple cleaning task. The process involves more than just wiping down, sweeping, and disinfecting the area. This is why many homeowners opt to hire a crawl space cleaning service than to do the project themselves.
Crawl Space Clean Up Using Ratslab
While other crawl space cleanup methods can help you maintain the cleanliness of your crawl space, they typically don’t offer a lasting solution. Chances are, you still have to clean the area more often and if you are hiring someone to do the cleaning, it would cost you more in the long run. Not to mention the hassle and the time you need to spend for each clean-up work.
If you want a lasting solution to your dirty crawl space, the best option available for you is to install a rat slab. A rat slab is a three to four inches thick concrete that is poured over the dirt crawl space. Ratslab installation is done after crawl space inspection.
A rat slab does not only make the area look and feel nice, it likewise makes cleaning easier and faster. Not only that, installing a rats lab can also help prevent mold and mildew growth by keeping the area free from excessive moisture and at the same time eliminate radon gas treatment, thus helping promote a healthier and better indoor air quality.
Installing a rat slab in the crawl space can also help you get rid of the annoying pests, together with their wastes and clutters. Pests like rats, rodents, subterranean termites, and small reptiles love to dwell in a damp, secluded, dark, and dirty environment like in a dirt crawl space. Leaving your crawl space ground exposed will not only give rats and rodents a sound place to live in and multiply, but it also encourages other pests from penetrating your home by burrowing from the outside ground into your crawl space. The concrete will serve as a solid barrier between the ground and your home structure that prevents pests, radon gas, and groundwater from getting into the surface area of your crawl space.
Installing a rat slab also makes the crawl space more easily accessible- whether you are doing routine maintenance, inspection, or repair works for your plumbing and electrical lines or you are doing a routine cleaning project.