Healthy from the Ground Up

What We Love About Our Crawlspace

The Covell Standard starts from the ground up, and our crawlspace just might be our most important feature

A healthy home starts at its foundation, affecting the very air you breathe. An unfinished crawlspace -- standard for many homes -- can let in insects, moisture and dangerous soil gases. Ours are both finished and conditioned, keeping inside air clean, safe and healthy. and the home energy efficient. Click around to view some of the highlights of this very modest but very important space.

Relaxed woman laying back on couch with hands behind head folded | Build on Your Lot | Covell Communities | Chester, Maryland 21619

HEALTHY INDOOR AIR

If your home is your fortress for keeping you and your family safe, its crawlspace can be considered the gatekeeper to a healthy home environment. One of the best ways to protect the air you breathe inside your home is to condition and control the air drawn in from outside your home. We climate control our crawlspace to prevent damp air and humidity from rising up into your living space, keeping the air you breathe dry and healthy. We use a high quality commercial-grade whole-home dehumidifier to keep moisture from settling into your home’s corners and crevices, allowing mold and bacteria to grow. and fostering “sick air.” We finish and insulate the crawlspace walls, use a vapor barrier to seal the foundation and lay a concrete slab over the crawlspace floor, preventing toxins from being drawn up through the soil, keeping pests out and keeping moisture from collecting in your home, affecting the air you breathe.

TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE CONTROLLED

In a traditional unfinished “vented” crawlspace, air from outside the home is allowed to freely pass through the

crawlspace, in theory keeping moisture from building up in a closed dark space. In practice, this still allows moist, humid air to rise up into the home, and condensation to collect in the home’s corners and crevices, especially during winter and summer extremes, allowing mold to grow. By finishing and conditioning the crawlspace, the home’s HVAC system circulates dry, climate-controlled air down to the crawlspace and then out of the home, keeping moisture from collecting, and protecting the air in your living space.

Woman making adjustments to thermostat | Build on Your Lot | Covell Communities | Chester, Maryland 21619

Woman walking through a home barefoot | Build on Your Lot | Covell Communities | Chester, Maryland 21619

WARM, COMFORTABLE FLOORS

One of the downsides of an unfinished crawlspace can be freezing cold floors in fall and winter, thanks to frigid outside air moving into the crawlspace and then rising up into the home. By finishing the space, conditioned air is allowed to circulate through the crawlspace, and the warm air rising through your floorboards keeps you from freezing your feet as you run down to make the coffee on a chilly morning.