carol

first of all, for AC cooling in our climate, fan should be run on auto-not continuous 24/7. run continuous 24/7 in heating mode OK.

second, installing dealer should be called back and have blower motor and evap coil inspected since system has been run without any protection. I suggest you or your husband be at the tech's side so you can see for yourself.

the fact that a filter was not installed in the filter cabinet is inexcusable. installing dealer should be notified in writing about this specifically.was the filter cabinet even installed? installed without a filter? humm.

how many supply vents show this "black residue" problem? these specific supply boots should be inspected in the crawlspace for poor connection and insulation issues. mold usually comes from a high humidity condition and/or poor airflow movement. I would inspect all the supply registers inside your home along with supply and return plenums for good connection-ie no evident leaks. you might want to take some humidity readings both in the crawlspace and inside your home at different areas. I assume based on our summer weather that there are no damp spots in your crawlspace.

the dealer definitely bears responsibility for the filter, probably not for the mold issue.

sorry for your trouble.

TD

Tigerdunes, thank you so much! I'm indebted to you for your kindness and wonderful explanations.

I've printed the reply so that my husband knows how to proceed. He goes into the crawl space. I do not.

When the rep. was here, my husband pointed out some gaps in one part of the ductwork. Those were supposed to be filled when the system was installed. Apparently nobody paid attention to that.

I am happy you told me not to have the fan running continuously in hot weather. With that honeywell unit in place, I thought it would keep dust out of the air. However, discovering it had no filter was alarming.

Do we need professional cleaning of those ducts?
I will be certain that the ducts are inspected carefully so that no outside air is introduced.

thank you

Carol

Update:
Supervisor came out. There was a filter ( not in the normal spot where my husband looked ) and it needed changing and even had a few chunks of insulation in it.

That was a relief!

The second problem is the new sump pump installed was not working. We had a technician come out this morning. We had close to 3 inches of rain recently. Quite a bit of water flowed out when the pump was fixed.

Now I'm thinking we must need dehumidification of that space. Before settlement and after the inspection, it was suggested we needed a new vapor barrier and a sump pump, both of which were installed in late April 2009.

Do you think a normal dehumidifier with the hose going outside would remedy the problem or should we try something like the SaniDry XP Dehumidifier & Air System ?

Not having lived in the south and not previously having a crawl space, I need advice. I think we should do more to keep the area dry. The house humidity has been way up, even with the thermostat set on 74. I've now bumped it down to 70 as the humidity was close to that number. We have the humidity set on 50% on the thermostat.

Thank you, tigerdunes.

Carol

carol

I am glad the filter cabinet was located and filter changed out-no harm done.

However, I must give you and your husband a little lecture. Both of you should have known where the filter cabinet was located. I know crawl spaces are creepy to enter and crawl around. But you need to know where the filter cabinet is located so you can change it out if you have to. I change mine once a year and have shown my spouse where the cabinet is and how to change the filter.

Crawl spaces are very common for our area and in fact I prefer them over a slab. I am not a water remediation expert but I do have some experience in this area. I don't understand the need for a new vapor barrier and sump pump when you installed new in April 2009. All your foundation vents need to be open. You do have foundation vents?

Sump pumps move water-they don't solve the problem. I think they are effective for those rare instances where a specific area has heavy rains over an extended time period. But if you are getting any puddling of water following a shower or short rainstorm with 1" or less of rainfall, then you have to find the source where the rain is entering the crawlspace. My neighbor recently installed a sump pump in his crawlspace at the lowest point. It runs everytime it rains. He should know better as he is an engineer.

Crawlspaces in the Southeast are going to be damp by nature. Our area has been in drought type conditions this summer except for the last week. I would let your crawlspace dry out and take humidity readings over the next several weeks.

Obviously the slope of your property around your home needs to be looked at as well as gutters/downspouts and how this water is directed away from your home.

I am not familiar with the SaniDry system. I know there are many others on the market. Be careful here and do your homework. Many of these systems are sold on fear and to unsuspecting/uninformed homeowners.

Your starting point is drying out your crawlspace. You may want to place a portable fan there temporarily. Second and you may need some professional help, find how and where water is entering the crawlspace. Then discuss options to remedy along with the cost.

TD

Tigerdunes, thank you for the reply. Yes, we should have known about the filter location. When the installation was in progress, we didn't think to ask and they didn't bring it to our attention.

I looked this morning at the thermostat and it showed 80% humidity.

It was after pre-sale inspection that the new vapor barrier was installed. Some areas had no vapor barrier whatsoever.
The inspection was done after a heavy rain and it was discovered that one corner of the crawl space had water.
That is where the sump pump was then installed. It worked only for a short time. I could hear it run but there was not even a dribble of water coming from the pipe. I phoned the company that installed it last fall ( probably Sept), but they told me if there wasn't standing water, it was working.

Recently we had a new sump pump installed and that, too, didn't start up. The company does not warranty the pumps.
The serviceman was here yesterday and adjusted the float which made it start up. I don't think I will ever use that company again.

Yes, we have vents and they are open.

We are in an area with underground springs and have water flowing along in part of the back yard.

We also have a drainage culvert pipe system ( concrete) that was failing when the flanges deteriorated so we had major digging in the back yard to replace much of that old line of pipes which is well below grade of the house and not close to the house. At that time we had almost all of the downspouts hooked into that drainage system. Only one downspout in the front goes above ground. The rest( 5)are piped away from the house. I have an extension ladder and clean out the gutters at first sign of a problem. We placed sieves at each downspout to keep large material from clogging the underground drainage.

I guess we felt the inspection and subsequent recommended course would take care of things. Obviously it did not.

Another potential problem is moles. They have tunneled and dug up so much of the property. When I would walk next to the house, the ground would sink. I've tried all sorts of repellents from granular to sonic, to castor oil. So far nothing has worked. I believe that constant digging is a problem as the ground along the house foundation should be firm and higher than elsewhere. I keep pounding it down.

We are not in a floodplain. At least that is good!

We now have an oscillating fan running in the crawl space.