Most homeowners assume their crawl space is just a dark and dirty part of the house that they shouldn’t care about. Yes, it’s the most neglected part of the house. Creepy crawling animals and pests live in there. But what if I told you crawl space could benefit your home more?
Crawl space encapsulation makes your crawl space beneficial to your home, and it also helps you save on heating and cooling. It’s a game changer, and we’d like to discuss how it protects your home. But first, what’s crawl space encapsulation?
What’s Craw Space Encapsulation?
Encapsulation is about sealing the crawl space using various solutions like vent covers, insulation, using a vapor barrier, and dehumidifiers. Ideal Insulation specializes in this service to keep your home safe and dry. Our company uses different forms of insulation to encapsulate your crawl space.
How it Saves Your Home
About 15 percent of homes in America have crawl spaces. That includes homes in Georgia. It’s not the most glamorous part of your home with expensive paintings, a chandelier, and everything else fantastic. It’s just a dingy and dirty place where electric cables pass through. Encapsulation of this space saves your home in wonderful ways. Let’s break it down!
Preserves Structural Integrity
A well-maintained property maintains good value. Even if your home’s attic and walls are insulated, a wet crawl space will still negatively impact insulation’s benefits. The space also experiences moisture buildup, which could lead to mold, wood rot that would weaken your structure, and pest infestations. These factors will make your home appear weak and scare off potential buyers.
Encapsulation helps eliminate all these issues and increase the value of your home. It helps seal air leaks and stops water seepage into the crawl space. It also prevents wood rot, mold, and fungal growth and prevents pests from invading your home. Ultimately, your home will be more robust, durable, healthier, and more marketable to sellers.
Reduces Energy Costs
The health and structural integrity of your home is essential. Reduced energy costs it’s another crucial benefit. Heating and cooling bills can be controlled through insulation. Space encapsulation helps cut down costs as well. A space with high humidity or too cold makes it hard for your HVAC system to achieve your desired comfort. Your energy bills shoot to the roof in the process.
When you have your crawl space encapsulated and ventilation, you can manage the problem and reduce your energy costs. Your floors also get warmer in winter and cooler in summer. You can compare your energy bills before encapsulation and after, and you’ll notice that they changed suddenly and have been like that ever since. It would be best to get a report and show it to potential customers.
Improves Air Quality
Your crawl space is like your attic, even though it has dirt or cement floor and block walls. They have the same conditions and would use ventilation to ensure fresh circulating air. If your crawl space does not have ventilation and it’s wet, your living space gets the beating for it. Fifty percent of the dump air rises to your living room.
The crawl space could be a breeding ground for mold and fungus. Rodents and pests also co-exist down there, and their droppings could cause allergens in the air. Before you realize it, your family could be down with respiratory issues. Encapsulating your home will help insulate, create a vapor barrier, and adding vents to your crawl space can help prevent these problems and keep your family healthy.
You Get Extra Storage Space
Encapsulating your crawl space is more of a sanitary measure with added benefits. One of them is a space with extra storage. Nothing can be stored there if the air is wet and stuffy. But that doesn’t have to be the case! Encapsulation helps reduce humidity and makes a safe place to keep some belongings.
The chances of pests crawling into the space are minimized. You can store everything, including items that pests and rodents would damage. Using the crawl space as storage would be much cheaper than paying for storage elsewhere. Besides, you can clear everything you don’t need in your home and move them to your crawl space.
Keeps Pests and Rodents Away
Termites and ants thrive in wet and dark spaces, and if your structure has wood, termites will weaken it. Once they establish their kingdoms, they will expand their borders, and before you realize it, you’ll be like a visitor in your own home. Not only will they damage your home, but they’ll also cause awful odors that will make your home inhabitable.
Encapsulating your crawl space will keep moisture and humidity levels low and create an environment that’s not friendly to insects, pests, and rodents. It also adds a protective layer against termites, preventing them from building a camp anywhere in the crawl space. Your wiring, wood, and insulation are saved from rodents like mice that get bitty-bitty.
Improves Your Home’s Appeal
Encapsulation increases your home’s value and helps attract potential buyers. You could name a price, and a buyer would think it’s fair because your home is in the best condition. It’s like renovating a home because you intend to sell it. Crawl space encapsulation is a solid investment that will benefit generations in the coming years.
Buyers prefer an insulated and encapsulated home because they won’t have to pay for the services themselves. They’ll assume you included the maintenance and renovation costs if you quote a price.
Extends the Longevity of Your Flooring
Wooden flooring is beautiful and stylish, but preserving it is not always so easy. If termites get in it, you’ll be walking on their food and home. So while nice wooden floors add value to your home, you wouldn’t want to risk them being damp and damaged.
Dampness can also rot your flooring from the inside out, and you’ll have to replace all the wood. The long-lasting solution to your wooden flooring, which will extend its longevity, is crawl space encapsulation.
Reduces Wear and Tear on Home Systems
Expansion and contraction happen with temperature changes. The same happens in your crawl spaces. Pipes, cables, furnaces, and other home systems can be subjected to high humidity, expand, and get damaged. Warm wet areas will also create a breeding environment for rodents that can eat your pipes and cables.
A humidity and temperature-controlled space will increase the lifespan of these crucial home systems. You will avoid repairing and replacing pipes now and then, multiple wiring issues, and a clean furnace that improves life in your home. Encapsulation will create a very comfortable living for your family.
Why Should I Encapsulate My Home?
Encapsulation of your home’s crawl space might be expensive, but looking at the long-term savings, you’ll realize it was worth it. How much would you spend to renovate your home after termites weakened the wood and the entire structure?
Imagine the expenses of replacing your wooden floor, furniture, and clothing. You could slash your energy bills almost by half if you considered encapsulating your crawl space. Mold-filled air would make your family members sneeze and culminate in serious health issues. You would save a lot long-term if you embraced this modern technology.
Encapsulation vs. Insulation
You might think encapsulation and insulation are the same, but they are not. Crawl space encapsulation is an effective way of getting rid of the moisture and standing or stagnant water in that area. Insulation, on the other hand, is the best way to deal with cold floors and frozen pipes. You can use both in that space to reap the benefits of lower energy bills.
Encapsulation
As stated before, encapsulating helps to resolve the water and moisture issues in your crawl space. By doing so, you get quality air, avoid mold growth, maintain the structure of your home, and make it comfortable. However, is it even necessary when you can insulate it?
You will need encapsulation if you face moisture and water-related issues in your crawl space. However, encapsulation will not work if a lot of water gets to your crawl space. You’ll need to address the water issue first. The material used for encapsulating your crawl space looks similar to that used in a swimming pool.
Insulation
Nothing beats the joy of having your home temperature just like you wanted it. That’s why you have an HVC system, but it doesn’t have to overwork when you have insulation. Insulation makes your home warm when cold outside and cooler when everything else is baking from the hot sun.
Insulation is not limited to your walls and attic alone. You can also insulate your crawl space. Insulating the space will boost the benefits you get from encapsulation. The best insulation material for this kind of space is spray foam. It keeps the cold air out, and the energy bill will be slashed even more.
What’s the Process?
Crawl spaces play crucial roles, but some homeowners find it more stressful than any section of their home. If left unwatched, it could welcome new unwanted guests who would turn your life around for the worse. All kinds of action might take place down there, and before you realize it, you would be living in a home no different from a boat in the swamp.
Accumulation of moisture, mold, insect infestation, and other stressful experiences, encapsulation seeks to resolve them. That’s why it’s crucial to have your crawl space encapsulation. Please don’t wait for it to happen and act when it’s already too late. You need to act before the crop up!
Also, if you have a basement, you would want to consider encapsulation for the same reasons. These spaces are below ground level, and if water gets in there, maybe after a rainstorm, it will take before it dries up. There will always be a risk involved with this part of your home. Encapsulation is not just an option. It’s a must-do if you care about your home’s well-being and your family’s.
The process is just simple. First, the contractor will clean the area out, and they will remove the pests if there are any. They will also sweep and remove any debris from that area. They will then attach a moisture barrier evenly on all the corners of the foundation walls and hold it in place with seal tape.
Once the moisture barrier is in place and sealed, the dehumidifier is installed. It helps remove any moisture that might seep in. Even though it sounds like an easy thing to do, DIYing this kind of project is not recommended. It’s in your best interest to hire a certified contractor with encapsulation expertise to take care of the project.
What’s the Difference Between Encapsulation and a Vapor Barrier?
Some homeowners think encapsulation of the crawl space and vapor barrier are the same. While you already know what encapsulation is all about, the vapor barrier keeps moisture out, which doesn’t sound any different from what encapsulation does.
Encapsulation helps seal up small leaks in your home’s foundation, while the vapor barrier prevents moisture from rising from the dirt by heat transfer. Both can be used to keep moisture at bay and your home safe.
Do You Need to Insulate a Your Encapsulated Crawl Space?
If your crawl space is encapsulated, you might be able to cut on energy costs a bit. If you add insulation, the costs could be slashed even further. Encapsulation does help address foundation leaks, but when it comes to thermal transfer, you can only trust insulation.
So, with encapsulation alone, you might get some benefits, but the cold floors will remain there. You don’t want cold floors unless it’s summertime. Spray foam works best in our crawl space. You can have both installed by the same contractor.
Conclusion
Proper installation of crawl space encapsulation will improve your family’s life for good. Accuracy from a professional contractor will ensure that it’s installed well to serve you over a long time. At Ideal Insulation, we are experts in everything insulation and encapsulation. Our professionals have worked in hundreds of homes across Georgia, giving homeowners more than they expected. Insulation and encapsulation are the way to go and a long-term investment that save you money annually. Contact us today for a quote!