How to Encapsulate a Crawl Space and Why You Should Hire a Professional

When the relative humidity in a home is over 50% it can not only lead to mold growth, but also damage the very foundation of your home. Outside humidity is a big factor here, but moisture damage can also come from the wet, damp ground around your crawl space.

The secret to protecting against these threats is to invest in a crawl space encapsulation. Knowing how to encapsulate a crawl space is a large undertaking to handle by yourself.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the basics of the process. That way, you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to hire a professional.

What Is Crawl Space Encapsulation?

Crawl spaces are extremely tight areas, often barely a foot tall, that separate your home from the ground. They house a lot of the plumbing and electrical components found in your home.

To protect your home from humidity and rot, there needs to be proper ventilation with crawl spaces. However, if there’s not enough ventilation you will need to turn to encapsulation.

Crawl space encapsulation is the process of lining the foundation of your crawl space with moisture barriers. This is a great way to reduce the humidity in your crawl space while protecting it from water damage.

However, keep in mind that crawl space encapsulation won’t fix water intrusions like floods and other sources of standing water. To address this you will need French drains & sump pumps.

It will only protect against ground moisture and outside humidity. When combined with a dehumidifier it can keep your crawl space at a healthy humidity and temperature level (60-70 degrees all winter long).

Why Is Crawl Space Encapsulation Important?

There are a lot of reasons why you should take an encapsulated crawl space seriously. That starts with air quality. If your crawl space has excess humidity, it means that bacteria-filled air is making its way into your home.

By encapsulating the space, you ensure that you get germ-free breathing air. A humid crawl space environment is also a breeding ground for pests.

Besides the variety of public health issues that accompany them, pests like termites and rats can also affect the structural integrity of your home. Encapsulating your crawl space can also decrease your energy bills.

When your HVAC system needs to work against damp air it needs to use twice as much energy to get the same result. As such, in many ways crawl space encapsulation can help pay for themselves in saving.

Lastly, crawl space encapsulation can help prevent foundational damage. Moisture eats away at the foundation of your home.

How to Encapsulate a Crawl Space

If you want to learn how to encapsulate a crawl space on your own, we recommend checking out our full DIY guide on the subject. However, in a nutshell, you will first need to inspect your crawl space.

Make sure that there are no draining, grading, foundation, or mold problems. If there are, you will need to address these before you encapsulate.

Next, you’ll need to seal both the vents and any openings to outdoor areas. You can do this using vapor barriers.

Once you accomplish this, you can begin the process of removing your old moisture barrier and installing a new one in its place. However, once you’ve installed a new moisture barrier, your job still isn’t over. You’ll need to get a dehumidifier to properly dry the space.

After you finish the job, make sure you inspect it regularly. That way with crawl space maintenance you can catch any potential problems early on.

Why You Should Hire a Professional for the Job

There are a lot of reasons why you should leave crawl space insulation to the professionals. There’s the issue of equipment. Encapsulating a crawl space involves a variety of specialized tools and materials, from polyethylene barriers to dehumidifiers.

Unless you have the equipment on hand you’ll need to spend a significant amount of money renting or buying them. There’s also the matter of experience.

If you haven’t performed encapsulation jobs in the past, there’s a good chance you could end up causing more harm than good. What’s more, crawl spaces can be potentially dangerous spaces.

As such, if you have no experience you might likely get injured. A crawl space repair professional ensures that the job is done right the first time around. The quality of the work ensures that it will last for a much longer time than any DIY job will.

How Much Does Crawl Space Encapsulation Cost?

One of the main incentives for doing a DIY crawl space encapsulation is to save money. There’s no denying that the average encapsulation job does represent a significant investment. So how much does it cost?

Generally, you can expect the average job to cost between $5,000 and $30,000. Why is it so expensive? Because a full encapsulation job includes a lot of different things including:

• Sealed foundation vents
• Insulated foundation walls
• 100% ground coverage with grade A vapor barrier
• Taped seams
• Sealed piers
• A dehumidifier
• Electrical

The two biggest factors that affect price include the condition of the crawl space and the size of the property. If there’s significant damage and mold around your crawl space, it will take more time and money to repair it.

Similarly, larger jobs require larger teams which can also increase the price. We know it can be tempting to try and save money by insulating your home yourself. However, remember that you will still need to spend a significant amount of money on the materials.

And, if you don’t have any experience you can spend days working on the encapsulation only to find that it doesn’t work. As such, a professional job can ensure that the job is done right without wasting time and resources.

Contact BAY Crawl Space & Foundation Repair

We hope this guide helped you learn how to encapsulate a crawl space. Here at BAY Crawl Space & Foundation Repair, we know that most homeowners don’t have the skills, knowledge, or desire to handle crawl space repairs and encapsulation jobs on their own.

That’s why we offer our extensive expertise at an affordable price that suits the average family. So if you want to find out why we’re the #1 rated crawl space contractor in the region, schedule your free inspection with us today.