It's not my week in crawl spaces....

[Ben H]

What is this stuff? Mold? It was all over the dirt under the very poorly installed VB.

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Also, these little bitty balls where all over the floor joist?

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[Mike Lamb]

The white powder may be lime dumped by the owner to absorb odors. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy used it extensively in his yard and crawl space.

Not sure about the second photo. If it's little shiny beads on the wood it's probably sap/resin from the lumber.

[Ben H]

I suppose it could be Lime, but it was REALLY concentrated near a wall that was obliviously having water penetrate it.

The little balls looked more like tiny, tiny egg sacks, but there were a few billion of them through out the crawl. This was a damp, nasty one with a a/c duct pouring into the thing, probably for many years.

[Ben H]

Here is a better pic.

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[Brandon Whitmore]

a wall that was obliviously having water penetrate it.

Someone should definitely let that wall know what is going on. [:-monkeyd

The white stuff may be mineral deposits ?

[Ben H]

I know, thats the front wall, with a very long sloping front yard that heads straight to the house. We are in bad a drought right now, but I'd love to see that place after a good 3 day rain....nasty.

[AHI in AR]

The whitish stuff on the dirt is fungus---a sign of moisture. The "balls" on the floor joists are the same thing. Mold/fungus...

The bottom line: You have a moisture problem there.

The white stuff under the plastic isn't necessarily a big concern, but black plastic should have been used to prevent this. Sunlight under the plastic isn't good. Also, the mold spores on the joists may or may not eventually be a problem. Control the moisture and the fungi will die off.

[Ben H]

Thanks Kevin, you echoed my thoughts. The problem lies in the house sits off the road, with a pretty steep pitch down, then levels off. The front yard, I'd guess to be 300 ft or better. Really, really poor grading/fill when the house was built...

[palmettoinspect]

The whitish stuff on the dirt is fungus---a sign of moisture. The "balls" on the floor joists are the same thing. Mold/fungus...

The bottom line: You have a moisture problem there.

The white stuff under the plastic isn't necessarily a big concern, but black plastic should have been used to prevent this. Sunlight under the plastic isn't good. Also, the mold spores on the joists may or may not eventually be a problem. Control the moisture and the fungi will die off.

Exactly. Here in Charleston this is a very common sight. Eventually if this problem is ignored, the fungus growth will deteriorate the floor system. Depending on severity of the moisture, grading and drainage it sounds like a sump pump, better vapor barrier, sealing all openings and adding a dehumidifier would take care of the moisture problem. Sometimes other factors will contribute to the high moisture such as poorly insulated ductwork or ventilation that is blocked from fallen insulation or vegetation growth. Creating a conditioned crawlspace with a dehumidifier has become very popular here in Charleston because of the high humidity and low water tables. I’ve seen TJIs completely covered win fungus growth in less than 5 years and floor joist that can be broken in half by hand because of high moisture in a crawlspace. Check out this picture.

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[John Kogel]

Here is a better pic.

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Yes, I've seen that growth on moist crawlspace floors. I don't know if it needs light to grow. I have seen it in some very dark environments. It is an indicator of too much moisture in that crawlspace. If you call it a fungus, you would not be wrong. Call it a mold, and you will have to explain that it hasn't attacked the inhabitants of the house. Yet. [] I don't know if this variety will move up to the joists, but that would be an extreme case.

The tiny balls may also be a fungus growth. There's one that I call a "lichen" that grows on windowsills that looks like that.

We can see moisture seeping through the perimeter walls. There are issues with drainage to deal with there. In my climate, once the crawlspace gets a chance to dry out completely, those fungi would probably die off.