Q: I have a question about venting my garage.

In the summer, it gets very hot. There are windows, but opening them for venting is not an option. Could I put a vent in the ceiling to release some of the hot air into the attic?

A: It's true; with the often extreme Georgia summer heat, enclosed, un-air-conditioned spaces like garages and attics can get really hot.

If you are going to exhaust the heat, I would suggest exhausting it to the exterior of the house instead of to the attic. Adding heat to your attic can only increase your cooling load and cost you money.

In addition to this, modern codes require a fire separation between garages and living spaces consisting of 1/2-inch drywall on the garage side of the walls and ceiling or an approved sprinkler system in the garage. A vent to the attic would break this separation.

I suspect that opening your windows is not an option because of security concerns. I suggest installing a fan that would discharge the garage heat to the exterior of the house.

By my calculation, a standard 50 CFM (cubic feet per minute) bathroom exhaust fan would exhaust a typical garage approximately every hour and a half.

Q: We have an older wooden home in Indian Hills in Cobb County. We have a crawl space that has always leaked. There is a sump pump in the space for the water when it rains; otherwise, there are no leaks.

Recently, one particular area seems to be allowing more water in when it rains than the other areas. We now have mold and mildew on some of the floor joists, etc.

We would like to stop the water from entering the crawl space, but no one seems to want to give us assurance that it can be done. Help!

Can you steer us in a direction to stop the water from entering so we can create a healthy environment in the crawl space, thus giving us a healthier environment in our home?

My wife suffers from asthma and sinus problems, so fixing the problem is a must. We also need to replace our air conditioning and heating unit and possibly the ductwork.

A: If your wife suffers from asthma, it is critical that you stop the water entry and mold growth in your crawl space.

Mold spores will inevitably migrate into the living areas of the house and have an adverse effect upon anyone allergic to them.

Once you have mold growth on the framing, you should have it cleaned by a qualified mold-abatement contractor.

There are numerous new systems available making claims that they are the best. I would call at least three contractors, compare prices, get references and choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

Before you clean the mold, however, you must stop the water entry into the crawl space. Failure to stop the water entry can result in the mold coming back.

I'm not sure who you have talked to, but there are many waterproofing contractors that specialize in ensuring you of a dry crawl space. Some of the contractors even offer a lifetime warranty.

As with the mold abatement contractor, I would get at least three estimates from waterproofing contractors.

The good news is that people are available to both clean the mold from your crawl space and waterproof the crawl space against further water entry. The bad news: Depending on the particular circumstances in your crawl space, both procedures can be very expensive.

Do you have a home-repair question? Send e-mail to Ask the Inspector at homestyle@ajc.com.