Sub-floor Ventilation
Adequate sub-floor ventilation in a building with timber floors is vital to help prevent dry rot, fungus, musty smells and mould growth. Throughout the inner city of Melbourne, poor sub-floor ventilation is common due to the nature of building back many years ago. Often with a single-fronted Victorian terrace, there are party walls preventing cross flow ventilation, minimal space beneath the floors, and in some cases, only 3-4 passive ventilators venting the whole sub-floor structure.
Should you have this scenario, and you are unable to achieve adequate natural cross flow ventilation beneath your floors, forced ventilation may be a viable option for you.
Forced ventilation, is simply a fan placed into an existing sub-floor vent which is designed to create the cross flow ventilation that an area of your sub floor would usually require.
You can find more information on mould and ventilation issues through state government websites. For your convenience, we have provided a number of links below:
Victorian Department of Health – Mould and your health