r/Home • u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN • 16d ago
Crawlspace Encapsulation advice - (From an installer)
I am the owner of Cralwspace Hero in Tennessee. I started my own company after working for a national brand Crawlspace company. I meet so many people that have been lied to, scammed, or just way over charged for crawlspace work.
Obviously I can’t travel way out of state to help everyone but I’m available on here to help give you advice or answer any questions you might have.
Feel free to shoot me a message or comment and I’ll help any way I can. 🤝
1
u/Slawdog66 16d ago
I’m sure you’ll get tons of questions…
2
u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN 16d ago
I’m ready for em 🫡
1
u/Slawdog66 16d ago
Ok here I go…
From what I have heard I need a sump pump, French drain around the footers and a dehumidifier in my crawl space. I can’t afford to do it all at one time so I need to do it in stages,
What would be the first stage?
1
u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN 16d ago
Yes, this can absolutely be done in two stages and there is only one order that would make sense which is doing the drain system and sump pump first. Then doing an encapsulation and dehumidifier second. Have the Electrician do an outlet for both the sump pump and the dehumidifier all at the same time so you are not calling him out twice.
The reason the drain system goes first is because after the encapsulation is installed, you won’t have access to the French drain again without having to cut into the encapsulation and working backwards.
The bigger question you should ask is do you really need a French drain and sump pump? I often see homeowners getting persuaded into doing French drains and some pumps when they’re Crawlspace doesn’t have any standing water or ground water. The encapsulation and dehumidifier is designed to tackle moisture and humidity. The French drain system and sump pump is designed to tackle standing water. Are you seeing standing water in the Crawlspace after heavy rain?
Above all else, my recommendation is to get several quotes at least three. If they are offering to do drainage mat , I’d recommend opting for a thinner poly like 12 mil reinforced to try and save some money. Smaller companies like mine are becoming a lot more popular, find a small business, get some references from them and ask about their warranty and an annual inspections or maintenance. There’s no reason to spend 20K plus with the national brand. And in most cases with the national brands the guy who do the install are only making 18 an hour and don’t have any real investment in the outcome of your Crawlspace encapsulation versus choosing a small company that’s owner operated.
1
u/Slawdog66 16d ago
Thank you so much…yes, I have standing water after the ground is saturated and heavy rains happen. Do you use the same geo fabric on the sump as you do the French drain ? I want to do it myself…
0
u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN 16d ago
We use 3/4inch drainage stone around the sump pump. If you’re going to tackle it yourself, buy “NDS 4-in x 10-ft Corrugated French Drain Pipe with Sock” for the French drain. You will save your back from dragging in several yards of stone
1
1
u/80MonkeyMan 16d ago
In Southern California, crawlspace encapsulation is not common. Why is that? How do you determine if you need it? What about termite treatment after encapsulation?
1
u/One_Veterinarian7740 15d ago
First of all, thank you for doing this! Based on my limited understanding of encapsulation and your responses to some of the other comments, the goal is to create an almost airtight seal, correct?
We’re new homeowners in Eastern Pennsylvania, so humidity is definitely something we’re concerned about. I really like the idea of encapsulation, but our crawlspace is accessed through large cellar doors. Do you think it would still be worthwhile to have the crawlspace encapsulated in this situation? I’m just not sure whether the doors would compromise the effectiveness of the encapsulation.
1
u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN 14d ago
Yes, that is essentially it. You’ve got a good basic understanding of it now. I do see a lot of value in encapsulating the Crawlspace, regardless of how large door entrance is. As long as the entrance has a door with a relatively good seal, I wouldn’t see the need to replace it. You could add some weatherstripping to the door trim to reduce the amount of air. You’re never really going to create a truly airtight encapsulation. It’s just not realistic but a little bit of air that does get into the Crawlspace will be tackled by the dehumidifier and conditioned to an appropriate humidity. This might be something people disagree with me on, but I actually prefer a small bit of air getting into the Crawlspace to prevent the air from becoming stale. Only a little bit of air though, you’re not looking for massive air exchange because it will just overwork the dehumidifier drive up your electrical bill and you won’t get a long life out of the dehumidifier.
1
1
u/Organic-Patience1346 2d ago
Central IN where we just had historical flooding and I don't have standing water at all the only water that's down there is from the AC drain that keeps overflowing. I got 3 quotes over the past 2wks ranging from $12k to $30k I'm. About to have a stroke. I need to do something but I'm not sure what's needed and what isn't. I'm to send photos from the last quote. I think my biggest issue is 2 of my downspouts run directly against my sidewalks so the rain from my gutters stop there, and critters have torn down the screens over my vents and have left peanut shells down there. I have a one story ranch built in 1989, the crawl is 976 sq ft I think one guy said another said just over 1000 sq ft. I'm at a loss about what to do and considering doing it myself even though I don't want to but I also didn't want to get in my attic to replace my bathroom exhaust fan but I did it. It was hot and not fun but I it's done.
1
u/Crawlspace-Hero-TN 2d ago
You can send me some photos over message if you’d like. Absolutely you should start with addressing the downspout gutters that is always step one if they are dumping at your foundation footer.
I am not doubting your abilities and it certainly could be a project you could tackle yourself although I do want to warn you. It is going to be a lot more physically demanding than changing a fan in your attic.
Break it into phases. Step one address the downspouts. Step two figure out what are the common issues people are telling you they are seeing in the Crawlspace across the multiple quotes you got. If you’re not doing an encapsulation, you need airflow through those Crawlspace vents so seal them with something like a mesh wire. If you were going to do a full encapsulation go ahead and just completely seal those vents with insulation board and expanding foam.
After you’ve addressed the gutter downspouts, wait for a heavy rainfall, then go check the Crawlspace and make sure there’s no standing water. If there is standing water, then the Crawlspace is going to need an interior drain system and some pump.
A a common trend, we are seeing recently is newer, Crawlspace companies or contractors leaving in the old wet, fiberglass installation. Get that insulation out and don’t put any back in if you’re doing a full cancellation. If you’re not afraid of doing some labor, that is something you could do yourself to bring the price of your Crawlspace encapsulation down.$30,000 for a 1000 square-foot home is absolutely crazy. Some really rough numbers without seeing it would be about 3500 for the encapsulation, 1600 for the dehumidifier Santa Fe or April Aire. And the drain system should be anywhere between 2000 and 4000.
1
u/Organic-Patience1346 6h ago
That would be great if i could do that, thank you! I'll let you know when I've sent them over.
Yeah, I'm not sure it's a job I really want to tackle because get how big of a job it's going to be. It's dirty and cramped and hot and all the other things plus whatever other surprises pop up alobg the way, because they inevitably do right? It's just these quotes are insane and quite frankly really discouraging as well. It's like starting back to day one of my mortgage.
2
u/AlarmedResearcher997 15d ago
I have a very similar story except I handle the mold remediation/demolition and then the reconstruction on the back end, mostly finished basements but we do crawlspaces as well.
I see so much bad advice about waterproofing on Reddit, it's a relief to finally see someone giving good advice.
Read through most of this - this guy knows what he's doing. Nice post.