How to Install Exterior Foundation Vents

Foundation vents offer a way to ventilate humid air from a crawlspace under your home. During warm weather, moisture can build in the crawlspace, rotting floor joists and leading to mold growing in the crawlspace. The foundation vents allow drier air to circulate into the crawlspace, and for the moist air to circulate to the outside. When the weather turns cold, use the adjustable fins on the vents to close them off to the outside, keeping the moist air out of the crawlspace.

Foundation vents
Black marker
Drill with mason bit
Cold chisel
Hammer
Bucket
Cement mix
Trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Hold the vents against the foundation on the outside of the house, where you plan to install the vents. Trace around the vents with a black marker, and then set the vents aside.
- 2
  Drill through the outline you drew on the foundation, using a mason bit. Knock out the foundation within the area you traced by hitting it with a cold chisel and hammer, following the line you drilled through.
- 3
  Insert the vent in the opening you made to check that it fits correctly. Chisel away any irregular portions of the opening until the vent fits.
- 4
  Mix cement and water in a construction bucket, following the ratio on the cement mix’s bag. Apply a 1/4-inch layer of cement on the edges of the hole you made in the foundation, using a trowel.
- 5
  Insert the foundation vent in the hole and rest it on the fresh cement. Apply more of the cement mix to any gaps between the vent and the foundation, sealing the gaps completely.

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