Crawl Space Encapsulation

Crawl Space Encapsulation

Crawl space encapsulation may be a term that is new to you, or you may already be familiar with the process. If your house is built over a crawl space, we highly recommend that you learn more about crawl space encapsulation and why it can be extremely important for your home, and for the health of your family.

There are a variety of reasons why you should consider crawl space encapsulation in order to separate the dirt floor of your crawl space from your home:

• The earth has a very high level of humidity and moisture. This creates a very damp environment in your crawl space, and mold will begin to grown. Mold thrives in an area where there are two elements: moisture and darkness. Your crawl space provides both in great abundance. There are all different types of mold, and some molds are toxic. Mold spores are airborne and eventually make their way upward into your home. crawl space encapsulation will prevent that from happening.
  
• The earth floor of your crawl space harbors all kinds of spiders, bugs and crawling insects. Like mold, they really love this environment and will thrive and reproduce there. The problem is, some of them don’t stay in the crawl space. They will slip through the tiniest cracks in the floor, which is when you or someone in your family will spot it and squish it. Without a crawl space encapsulation, they will keep coming.

Another big problem with an environment of moisture is that it allows structural decay. When the wood under your house is constantly damp, after a while it will begin to rot. Repairing structural damage can be very expensive; it is much more cost effective to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Your family’s health is a big factor, and probably the most important one. When your crawl space is teeming with mold spores, bugs and decay, it is a very unhealthy environment. What many homeowners do not realize is that the air flow in a home is generally upward. That means that the unhealthy air from your crawl space will make its way up into your actual living space, making the air in your house unhealthy as well. You also have to consider the factor of radon gas. This is a natural gas that comes from the ground, and it is deadly. Thousands of lung cancer deaths each year are attributed to radon being in the indoor air of people’s homes.

So how exactly does a crawl space encapsulation work?

First, we go into your crawl space and level it as much as possible. We will also remove anything that shouldn’t be there, such as mold or rotten wood.

Then, we measure the dimensions of the crawl space and cut the high-strength vapor barrier to match the space. This barrier is what protects your home from moisture, mold and radon gas. It is attached to the foundation wall around the perimeter of your crawl space, and all of the seams are attached together with a special wide sealant tape.

The vapor barrier is also sealed around objects in the basement, such as steel beams or piers. We can also accommodate the need for a sump pump (we have special sump pumps designed specifically to be used in a crawl space encapsulation).

Once everything is in place, your home is protected and your family’s health is no longer at risk. You can then consider your crawl space to actually be a clean place. Not only does it look much nicer, you can also store items there without worrying about damage.

Give us a call to get a free estimate to have your crawl space encapsulated. We guarantee you will love the results.

We offer crawl space encapsulation throughout Virginia, including Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke and Lynchburg. Our coverage also includes Greensboro NC, Raleigh NC, Baltimore MD, Columbia MD, and Washington DC. If you are in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, DC, or Delaware, please feel free to call.