Adrian Indoor Environmental

Introduction

Darlene W. contacted us about indoor air quality issues in her home.  The home was a well maintained farm house in a small community near Champaign-Urbana.  The home was built over a basement and crawl space, with approximately 75% of the home over the crawl space, which was entered from the basement.  The furnace was located in the basement and several secondary vents crisscrossed the home’s crawl space.  The home was meticulously maintained with hardwood flooring throughout the first floor and carpeting in the second story.

• Musty odor in basement and living area, especially in spring and summer

• Associated worsening of allergies with presence in home

• Concerns about indoor air quality

• High mold spore count in basement and living area

• Crawl space had dirt floor

• Evidence of moisture intrusion in crawl space

• Mold growth on floor joists in basement and crawl space

• Air ducts extremely dirty, especially vents in floor

• Encapsulate dirt crawl space

• Air ducts cleaned

• Installed dehumidifier in basement to maintain RH <60%

• Mold spore count decreased 98% from a high of 12,000 spores/m3 to 300 spores/m3.

• RH <60%

• Odor in basement and home eliminated

• Home smells fresher

• Decrease in allergy symptoms

• Improvement in health