temperature under crawl space

[Trigger Mike]

if the outside temp is 60 degrees how cool is it under a crawl space with 4 open vents and open space where the door should be blocked only by a piece of wood that does not go all the way up? I ask as I wonder at which point the snakes and bats will leave the crawl space.

 

The snake trap has not caught anything and so I threw in vinegar to drive them out.

[Assassin]

Catch an owl and put it in the crawl space. They eat snakes for a living.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Glue cyanide pills to a bunch of rats and release them under your house. When the snake eats one of the rats, he will be poisoned. Most of the problem is solved.....except for the rest of the rats......which will attract even more snakes.

 

 

Have you contacted a real estate agent yet?

[JudgeBagodonuts]

Without knowing the construction of your house, the size of the vents and doors, how large the crawlspace is, and how cold it's getting at night, it's pretty hard to say how warm the crawl space will stay. Leaving the doors and vents open will allow warmer or colder air from the outside in, and will make the ambient air temperature inside close to the temperature outside, but won't affect the ground temperature as much. If it was 80 degrees outside, the air temp inside might get to 70-75 degrees, but the ground temperature would likely be in the 60's.

 

Consider putting up a bat house nearby and blocking their access to your crawlspace when they leave in the early evening with a "one way bat door". It may take a week for them to relocate themselves. Bats like it warm, so put that bat house on a pole or the side of the house that gets the morning sun.

 

Haven't had snakes in the house, so can't give you any suggestions there.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Sometimes it is a bad idea to shelter the crawl space from the ambient weather. For example, a house in Alaska built in stilts into the permafrost, the permafrost must not be allowed to thaw.

[JudgeBagodonuts]

Crawl spaces with concrete floors that are designed to be closed off from the outside should be treated like a basement. Close the vents. Monitor the humidity and put in a dehumidifier if necessary.

 

Dirt floor basements should be allowed to breathe by having the vents open.

 

Houses built on stilts or pilings should, as MMH suggests, not be enclosed, whether they are in Key West or Anchorage.

[Trigger Mike]

this one has cinder blocks all around and a dirt floor and there are 3 places where the cinder blocks are placed sideways so the holes face in and out and a wire screen was put over them to block critters but the door has not been installed once the bats and snakes were discovered so as not to block them in and force them to find escape thru the house. the door is partially blocked with a board that does not go all the way up. the plan is once the snakes and bats go away to close the door and water barrier the ground with plastic to keep moisture off the house itself and prevent critters from getting in.