Decorative Foundation Vent Covers Customer Images

Most commercial  foundation vents available are functional, but ugly. They are not suitable for most of the elegant exteriors on many of the fine homes built today. Beaux-Arts’ grilles are exceptional in style and detail, and designed to compliment the best exteriors.

CRAWL SPACE VENTILATION BUILDING CODE

A Crawl Space is defined by the space in a house between the bottom of the first level floor joists and the earth underneath the building, and is not a cellar or a basement. This area is subject to ground moisture and condensation, which if not controlled can cause dry-rot, mildew and mold.  Natural ventilation of the crawl spce is the best way to control moisture and preserve the integrity of the floor joist undeneath your home.  Ventilation openings called “ports” in the foundation wall allow the air to circulate underneath the house and dry up moisture in the crawl space. Most building codes require that the total size of all ventilation ports be no less than 1 square foot for every  150 square feet of crawl space area. In other words a 1,500 square foot crawl space should have a minium of 10 square feet of ventilation. These ports should be located in various locations thoughout the foundation walls, with an empasis on the corners. One port should be located 3 feet from each corner, this assures cross ventilation in the most difficult area to control moisture.  Ventilation ports must be located on at least three sides of the foundation, which will assure the necessary cross ventilation while  one wall can be left without any ports. In addition, a hole or door at least 18″ tall x 24″ wide must be provided to allow access to the crawl space.

Foundation vents or grilles must cover all the port openings and may also cover the access door. Foundation vents or grilles shall be provided with a corrosion-resistant screen or wire mesh, 1/8″ or smaller to allow proper air flow and to prevent varmits from gaining entry into the crawl space.

All Beaux-Arts Classic Products’ decorative grilles are perfect for foundation vents. First of all they are made from an exterior grade urethane resin and come in a variety of sizes and 14 durable exterior finishes, they are impervious to water and not harmed by UV Rays.  If you let us know that you are using them as foundation grilles, we will also include a black fiberglass mesh screen to help keep the varmits out.

This project  uses 2 of our 6″ x 14″ Louis XIV decorative grilles to cover their foundation vents.  All of our decorative grilles can be used as foundation vent covers, return air grilles, return air filter grilles, supply vents, vent covers, speaker grilles, radiator grilles, crawl space grilles, bathroom exhaust fans and more.  They are specifically designed for wall and ceiling installation, and should not be used as floor grilles.  They are cast from an industrial quality urethane resin which faithfully reproduces the hand carving details of the originals.  Resin is dimensionally stable. It won’t rot, rust, corrode or grow mold.  In addition, urethane resin is impervious to water and can be used in damp or wet locations, such as a decorative grille for a bathroom exhaust fan, or in and around an indoor swimming pool.  Steel vent covers will soon rust in either location.

“GM Stuart – just an update that everything turned out great.  The vents look terrific once I installed them and I also want to mention how much I appreciate that you included the extra screws as they came in quite handy.”  Jim from San Pedro, CA

Most homes built in the last twenty years have a standard size foundation port, 8″ tall by 16″ wide, which is the size of a cinder block. Even if your new home has a brick or stucco front, chances are it has a cinder block foundation with a brick veneer front or stucco poraged over cinder block. So Beaux-Arts Classic Products designed and manufactures a standard foundation vent made to fit in the missing cinder block port. Our standard foundation vent has  everything the best foundation vents should have. We designed it to be completly installed and serviced from the front, so you don’t have to crawl around in your crawl space. First we designed an attractive and functional frame, designed to prevent water from entering your foundation during the worst torrential downpours. The frame is put up from the front with thumb screws on long threaded rods, to secure it to the foundation front. The frame should be caulked in to prevent water from leaking in behind the frame. Next the grille fits into the frame and is held in place with four knurled knobs, so that it can be easily removed.  The grille  needs to be removable in order to put the fiberglass mesh screen in place during the Spring through Fall to allow cross ventilation of your crawl space. During the late Fall the screen mesh should be replaced with the “Blocking Plate” which will seal off the cold air of winter to prevent your pipes from freezing.  All the hardware is provided and is either stainless steel, galvanized steel, or brass, to prevent rust and corrosion.  Plus this standard foundation grille comes in our two historic styles and is available in 14 weather durable finishes.

This is our Louis XIV style Decorative Foundation Vent Cover Product.  These decorative foundation vent covers are made exclusively for crawl spaces.  They consist of two separate parts, the frame which is attached to the foundation and the grille which is removable.  Both are cast from an exterior grade urethane resin that won’t rot, rust, corrode or grow mold.  The grille can be removed by unscrewing four knurled knobs, in order to seal off the foundation in cold weather months by inserting a sealing plate behind the grille, or to put in a fiberglass screen mesh behind the grille in the warm weather months to allow ventilation in the crawl space. The homeowner can service these vents from the outside of the house without having to crawl into the crawl space.  Each grille provides 73 square inches of ventilation with the fiberglass screen mesh installed.  All installation hardware, plus the sealer plate and fiberglass screen mesh is included.  The decorative foundation vent covers use historic masters which have been scanned and digitized to create a functional and attractive architectural feature replacing standard industrial foundation vent covers.

Our Decorative Foundation Vent Cover Product comes in two styles; our Arts and Crafts and Louis XIV.

You will receive the frame, the decorative grille, the blocking plate and mesh screen. The frame and decorative grille will be in your choice of any of our 14 Finishes.