How to Encapsulate a Crawl Space
Crawl spaces are often overlooked because they’re not part of the main living space. However, this area significantly impacts your home’s overall health. Encapsulation and proper maintenance ensure the area beneath your home remains safe, dry, and stable.
This page explains how to encapsulate a crawl space, recognize problem signs, and understand the repair process.
What Is a Crawl Space?
A crawl space is a low-lying area beneath a home that provides a buffer between the structure and the ground. Unlike basements, crawl spaces are around one to three feet high. They provide convenient storage for housing utilities like plumbing pipes, electrical wiring, ductwork, and HVAC equipment.
In 2023, only 12 percent of new single-family homes sold in the Western U.S. had crawl spaces. This foundation type is more common in the southern United States due to climate, soil conditions, and regional building practices.
What is Crawl Space Encapsulation?
Crawl space encapsulation is a process that involves sealing the area from outside elements, like moisture, air, and pests. It involves several techniques that work together, creating a comprehensive system that contributes to your home’s overall health and safety. Let’s take a look at the process.
How to Encapsulate a Crawl Space
Crawl space encapsulation involves several techniques, each working together to ensure a safe and dry environment. These methods include:
Vapor Barriers
A thick, durable vapor barrier is installed on the walls and floor to seal the crawl space, isolating it from the earth. Our 20-mil vapor barrier is waterproof and mold and puncture-resistant, providing superior moisture protection. Vapor barriers are essential to a comprehensive encapsulation process.
Interior Drainage System
Crawl space drainage systems keep the area dry by preventing flooding and water pooling. These water management systems include interior drainage pipes installed in trenches along the crawl space perimeter. These drains collect water infiltration and direct it toward the sump pump, which filters the water out and away from the home.
Drainage matting is also placed on the floor to help direct water toward the drainage system and enhance the vapor barrier’s durability.
Sump Pumps
Crawl space sump pumps remove water from the crawl space, directing it away from the foundation. This product is crucial for preventing water accumulation and flood damage. Backup sump pumps are often installed to provide additional protection in case of power outages or following primary sump pump failure.
Dehumidifiers
Crawl space dehumidifiers remove excess moisture from the air, regulating humidity levels and reducing musty odors and mold growth potential. These energy-efficient, self-draining dehumidifiers fit compactly into tight crawl space areas, providing powerful removal of approximately 100 pints of water daily. Dehumidifiers, combined with other encapsulation methods, enhance your home’s indoor air quality.
Insulation
Proper crawl space insulation is critical for encapsulation and energy efficiency. Soft fiberglass insulation is not recommended, as it absorbs moisture, detaches, and attracts pests. Instead, we install thermal foam board insulation on crawl space walls. These thick panels contain an expanded polystyrene body, are graphite-infused, have a radiant heat barrier coating, are infused with a termiticide and pest deterrent, and have an R-value of 11.
Crawl Space Doors and Vents
Airtight vent covers seal open crawl space vents, preventing outside elements like moisture, insects, and rodents from entering the area. Crawl space door installation provides a safe and secure access point for maintenance and inspections.
Structural Crawl Space Repair
Floor joist repair is recommended for sagging floors, over-spanned joists, or structural damage caused by wood rot. Our adjustable crawl space supports work by reinforcing floor joists and lifting the floor. These durable steel supports resist rust and corrosion and are customized to your crawl space height, each supporting an allowable load capacity of over 24,000 pounds.
Crawl space encapsulation methods ensure the area remains dry, healthy, and pest-free. Every property is unique, so contact a professional for a free inspection to determine the appropriate solution for your home.
Crawl Space Problem Signs
There are several problem signs that may indicate the need for encapsulation. These include:
If you notice crawl space problem signs, contact your local crawl space specialists for a free inspection. Damage prevention and repair are crucial in maintaining a healthy home.
What Causes Crawl Space Problems?
Crawl space problems occur for various reasons, but the primary cause is often its design. Traditional building codes required open crawl space vents in order to promote airflow and control moisture. However, these vents have been found to create the very problems they were meant to prevent.
Crawl space vents allow precipitation, runoff, humidity, unconditioned air, and pests to enter, leading to many issues. They also contribute to the stack effect—the natural upward movement of air in a building—which causes humid air, mold spores, and pest waste from the crawl space to circulate through your home, contributing to poor indoor air quality and health hazards.
In recent years, building codes have been updated to permit unvented crawl spaces.
Why is DIY Crawl Space Encapsulation a Bad Idea?
DIY crawl space encapsulation is not recommended because it often leads to further damage and costly repairs. Here’s why: The crawl space area is small, making it challenging to navigate safely without the proper tools and training. When crawl space encapsulation solutions are not correctly installed or not custom-fitted, the repairs can fail, leading to significant issues.
Wet insulation, poorly sealed vents and pipes, stapled instead of taped vapor barrier seams, ignored groundwater issues, low-quality dehumidifiers, and improperly wrapped piers are common DIY mistakes that result in further damage and costly repairs in the long run.
Professional crawl space encapsulation ensures a proper installation with high-quality, long-term solutions.
Need Crawl Space Encapsulation? Groundworks Can Help!
Address crawl space issues once and for all with professional encapsulation solutions. Groundworks provides top-quality crawl space repairs, ensuring long-term protection for your home and family.
Contact Groundworks today for a free inspection and repair estimate.
Crawl Space Encapsulation FAQs
Crawl space encapsulation deals with water and humidity concerns, and typically involves a dehumidifier, vapor barrier, or crawl space insulation to dry, safeguard, and seal the area from moisture. These measures prevent crawl space problems like mold and pests, ensuring your home remains dry and healthy.
Crawl space encapsulation increases energy efficiency and reduces energy bills by preventing exposure to external elements like wind and rain. This process also improves indoor air quality by reducing mold spores and other air pollutants.
Crawl space encapsulation is an optional house improvement; it is not necessary. Yet, it’s a crucial fix for clearing the crawl space of unwelcome moisture, pests, mold, and poor air. Also, it improves the health, security, and comfort of the home.
