Crawl Space Moisture/Vapor Barriers & Encapsulation

Crawl Space Encapsulation

Crawl­space encap­su­la­tion is  the process of elim­i­nat­ing unhealthy con­di­tions such as moisture, mold, mildew, and fungus by seal­ing and insu­lat­ing the entire crawl­space for improved ener­gy effi­cien­cy and indoor air qual­i­ty in your home. Sometimes people will also refer to Crawls Space Encapsulation as conditioned crawl space, a sealed crawl space, or a conditioned crawl space.

Crawl Space Encapsulation completely iso­lates the crawl space from the ground and out­side air by lin­ing the foun­da­tion walls and crawl ­space floor with an extra-heavy rein­forced vapor bar­ri­er and maybe installing either a con­di­tion­ing sys­tem or a dehu­mid­i­fi­er and makes it a controlled space. When seal­ing the crawl­ space with a com­bi­na­tion of poly wrap and insu­la­tion, you reduce the risk of damage to your foundation and floors while also improving health conditions in your home.

Vented crawl spaces tend to have high­er humid­i­ty due to warmer air holding more mois­ture. In the sum­mer­, the out­door air will bring extra water vapor with it when it comes into a crawl space through the vents. When warm, humid air comes into the crawl­ space and cools off, the rel­a­tive humid­i­ty will go even higher.