Crawl Space Encapsulation

Crawl space encapsulation is becoming a very popular home improvement. Ignoring the conditions in the crawl space are a thing of the past. This industry has grown dramatically in the last 5 years mostly due to the indoor air quality and energy improvements. The lists of benefits, however, go far beyond just saving on the energy bills and cleaner air.

Water and moisture are equally devastating to your home. Although they seem to be the same thing, they really are not. Water keeps a moisture problem alive as well as delivering a punishing blow to your foundation.

Although you can control a water problem without encapsulating your crawl space, it quickly becomes obvious how water and moisture work together to cost you money. Once you get a standing water problem under control you are not done with moisture. When the temperature of the air is warmer than the temperature of the surfaces in your crawl space you have condensation. And condensation means bad, bad things for your home.

This is where encapsulating your crawl space really starts to pay off. Moisture in the air is the thief behind many of the problems associated with a crawl space. All too often, as homeowners we misdiagnose the real problem. If there is an odor, then that is the problem- Right? If you have wood boring insects, then that is the problem also- right? Wrong! The problem is moisture. Odor is only a symptom of the real problem and so are insects. Hard to believe? Those are not the only symptoms that get identified as problems, there is also:

• Mold
• Mildew
• Soft Floors
• Termites
• Dry Rot
• High Cooling Costs
• Rusting Ductwork
• Wet Insulation
• Sweating Windows

Just to name a few. Eliminate the problem, moisture, and you can prevent all of these symptoms. Still hard to believe? OK, here is the break down- Let's start with the fungus among us. Dry Rot is a fungus and so is Mold and Mildew. All three are a living plants and need food, water and carbon dioxide (among other things) to live. The issue with fungus is, the food it eats is our house. Of course we would love to remove its food source, but we can't do that, because that is the real obstacle here. We cannot remove the carbon dioxide; let's face it, that is just impossible. So that leaves us with moisture. By transforming your crawl space into an encapsulated crawl space you are creating a space you can now control. Control the temperature and the moisture. Lower the moisture, prevent the fungus. This applies to bugs like termites too. Any bug guy will tell you a damp and humid crawl space is just asking for trouble. I think most of us know that anyway. So, is it also asking for trouble if we have a clean dry crawl space? I'm sure we know the answer to that as well!