Crawl Space Encapsulation offers a wide range of benefits and solutions to common problems. Crawlspaces often offer the ideal conditions for pest and rodents, mildew and mold, and water and moisture damage. Encapsulation mitigates all of these issues for a drier, pest free space.
Crawl Space Encapsulation
Your crawl space is the last place you want to go into. Why? Because its dark, damp, and could potentially be filled with dangerous pest such as snakes and rodents. During the winter months, cracks and holes allow for cold air to enter the space. The opposite happens during the summer months where hot, humid air is allowed in. The continuous changing of temperature means decaying, odorous, nasty crawl space. More importantly though, it drains your utility bill. If you want to avoid the danger and save on utility bills, you can encapsulate your crawl space.
So lets break it down. Why encapsulate?
Condensation is the change of water from its gaseous form (water vapor) into liquid water, and it generally occurs in the atmosphere when warm air rises, cools, and looses its capacity to hold water vapor.
- Dew Point
- Relative Humidity
- Over 70% relative humidity has enough moisture to promote mold growth
- Wood Moisture Content
- Over 20% moisture content will promote fungus growth
Reduced Energy Costs
- When moisture leaves anything, it always takes heat with it.
- Energy is required to remove moisture from air. Therefore, warm air at higher RH levels requires more energy to cool.
- It simply takes more energy to remove more moisture, just as if water were being removed with buckets from a pond versus a lake.
- Encapsulation is a green trend that has minimal costs, improves air quality and saves up to 18% on HVAC utility costs.
Wasted Unused Space
Most Crawl Spaces are around 1,500 to 2,500 square feet.
Look at all the gained storage space!
Comfort of Occupants
- Relative humidity above 65% feels muggy to most people in warm environments and clammy in colder ones. The body cannot perspire properly because evaporation does not readily occur when high humidity is present
- Up to 60% of the air in your house can come from the crawl space including humidity, odors, and allergens.
- Warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer
- No More musty odor from mold or mildew
Damage to Materials and Content
Wood and fiber based materials are subject to swelling when wet, whether by exposure to water vapor in the air or from condensation on surfaces.
- Structural wood framing
- Doors and windows
- Baseboards, Hardwood Floors
- Cabinets, Furniture
- Pianos, Musical instruments
High moisture levels can also encourage corrosion of some metal items.
Encapsulation: The Installation Process
– Remove The Debris and Rake Soil Smooth
-Spray Wall and Ground with DSV
-Seal All Exterior Openings
-Cut & Prepare Membrane
-Continuous Membrane Attached to Foundation and Piers Wrapped with Membrane
-All Seams Sealed with Tape
-100% Ground Coverage
Mortgage, pest control, and home inspection industries flag crawl space wood moisture contents above 20% as a potential problem.
- Monitoring Annual Inspection
- Change Filter
- Check Drain
- Verify Normal Settings
- Take Updated Moisture Readings
- Change Batteries in Remote and Interior Sensors
- Customer calls if reading exceeds 65% Humidity