That mold on the wood should have been removed for sure. That inactive mold is just sitting dormant until something goes wrong. And even if it were "dead", it is just as bad as active mold and can set some people off. This isn't a crawl space ninja installation, because they don't use reinforced liners and use a different dehumidifier brand. The reinforcement in the liner is definitely a problem, so I think removal of that type liner is paramount. (A doctor can appreciate causation vs symptoms. Remove the cause not the symptom, so I don't agree with the need for outside air to fix the smell. Just remove that liner.) My understanding is that the trunk lines allow for the dryer air to be dumped to other locations further away to allow for good air movement within the crawlspace. If you remove the lines, it will take longer for the dehumidifier to get the crawlspace to the same dew point. (Entropy will force the dryer air to migrate to other areas, it'll just take longer and the dehumidifier might short cycle because it will only sample the air just around it.) Generally, you'd wanna insulate the outside walls when encapsulating a crawlspace, and spray foam that isn't installed during good conditions (aka properly) can off gas as well. Usually, dehumidifiers would need to be installed prior to spraying the foam and only after the conditions are good for spraying (aka when the wood had dried to a certain level) which could have taken a couple of months. The two color types of foam shows a situation where there might be two different types of foam (or just old and new.) But the 1st layer could be a vapor open foam or that it never cured properly due to improper installation conditions. (An infrared camera might show some interesting things.) Hope y'all took tons of pictures and keep samples of that foam, otherwise there will be no evidence for a lawsuit for the original installers. Sorry for the long tirade! It's really disheartening to see that somebody is going through this type of thing. I hope the best for the homeowners and that everything gets situated.
It could be the good doctor and his wife misspoke as far as the vendors they have been using overall. They have had a number of contractors working on this crawl space. It really does not matter to me in the bigger scheme of things. Franchisees are franchisees. Robots are robots. The industry is packed full of them. All the same and equally worthless. The dumbest people in the industry get sucked into the franchisee scams quite rapidly no matter what market you live in. And the public pays the price. The Carolinas being one of the hottest markets in the county. The corporate slugs circling like vipers ready to exploit the next idiot wanting to get rich quick. I had one call me last week and I toyed with him like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Dumb as rocks. That is the nature of the industry unfortunately. Where they get their capital is beyond me. Ironically, these people never moved forward with any work due to budgetary constraints. They attempted to go the warranty route which I am sure led to nowhere. A pity really, as a follow up video with a real solution would have been effective here. For the last 15 years I have been working with people like this. These types of calls are my favorite to explore and trouble shoot. The debate over encapsulation, ventilation, and indoor air quality a constant battle with clients. The true answer quite frankly is a hybrid approach. Using dead corner fans instead of duct kits is way more effective with moving air inside the crawl space. And yes, you can indeed get rid of an odor in a crawl space by using controlled air exchange. This is not a theory and/or a sales gimmick. It is fact. And I have engineers and licensed mold and air quality specialists whom refer me work weekly for how I approach the public. My solutions are based on science and engineering concepts. The attached two videos will show you exactly how this crawl space could be fixed without pulling the liner and spending a ton of extra money. Please check them out. Once you understand how to apply controlled ventilation under vented code it is a game changer. Thank you for commenting! ua-cam.com/video/BjE6GmuyN5Y/v-deo.html
That mold on the wood should have been removed for sure. That inactive mold is just sitting dormant until something goes wrong. And even if it were "dead", it is just as bad as active mold and can set some people off.
This isn't a crawl space ninja installation, because they don't use reinforced liners and use a different dehumidifier brand. The reinforcement in the liner is definitely a problem, so I think removal of that type liner is paramount. (A doctor can appreciate causation vs symptoms. Remove the cause not the symptom, so I don't agree with the need for outside air to fix the smell. Just remove that liner.)
My understanding is that the trunk lines allow for the dryer air to be dumped to other locations further away to allow for good air movement within the crawlspace. If you remove the lines, it will take longer for the dehumidifier to get the crawlspace to the same dew point. (Entropy will force the dryer air to migrate to other areas, it'll just take longer and the dehumidifier might short cycle because it will only sample the air just around it.)
Generally, you'd wanna insulate the outside walls when encapsulating a crawlspace, and spray foam that isn't installed during good conditions (aka properly) can off gas as well. Usually, dehumidifiers would need to be installed prior to spraying the foam and only after the conditions are good for spraying (aka when the wood had dried to a certain level) which could have taken a couple of months.
The two color types of foam shows a situation where there might be two different types of foam (or just old and new.) But the 1st layer could be a vapor open foam or that it never cured properly due to improper installation conditions. (An infrared camera might show some interesting things.)
Hope y'all took tons of pictures and keep samples of that foam, otherwise there will be no evidence for a lawsuit for the original installers.
Sorry for the long tirade! It's really disheartening to see that somebody is going through this type of thing. I hope the best for the homeowners and that everything gets situated.
It could be the good doctor and his wife misspoke as far as the vendors they have been using overall. They have had a number of contractors working on this crawl space. It really does not matter to me in the bigger scheme of things. Franchisees are franchisees. Robots are robots. The industry is packed full of them. All the same and equally worthless. The dumbest people in the industry get sucked into the franchisee scams quite rapidly no matter what market you live in. And the public pays the price. The Carolinas being one of the hottest markets in the county. The corporate slugs circling like vipers ready to exploit the next idiot wanting to get rich quick. I had one call me last week and I toyed with him like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Dumb as rocks. That is the nature of the industry unfortunately. Where they get their capital is beyond me.
Ironically, these people never moved forward with any work due to budgetary constraints. They attempted to go the warranty route which I am sure led to nowhere. A pity really, as a follow up video with a real solution would have been effective here.
For the last 15 years I have been working with people like this. These types of calls are my favorite to explore and trouble shoot. The debate over encapsulation, ventilation, and indoor air quality a constant battle with clients. The true answer quite frankly is a hybrid approach. Using dead corner fans instead of duct kits is way more effective with moving air inside the crawl space. And yes, you can indeed get rid of an odor in a crawl space by using controlled air exchange. This is not a theory and/or a sales gimmick. It is fact. And I have engineers and licensed mold and air quality specialists whom refer me work weekly for how I approach the public. My solutions are based on science and engineering concepts. The attached two videos will show you exactly how this crawl space could be fixed without pulling the liner and spending a ton of extra money. Please check them out. Once you understand how to apply controlled ventilation under vented code it is a game changer. Thank you for commenting!
ua-cam.com/video/BjE6GmuyN5Y/v-deo.html