When the Solution in Your Crawl Space Becomes Part of the Problem

Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

A home with a dirt crawl space is simply cheaper to build. The current building code requires contractors to have a minimum of 6mil thick liner to cover the crawl space ground. However, the minimum (which is the most common choice among contractors) will cause the most havoc for the overall health of your home.

Sealing your home from the exposed dirt below is one way to help protect your floor system and living area from groundwater moisture. Unfortunately, thin vapor barriers have no way of being fastened to the ground or walls. With no way of being attached, the liner will deteriorate and move over time by pests, moisture, and debris.

The majority of homes are built on cinder block walls. Cinder block walls are hollow and porous; being the least resistant to water and water vapor passing through the wall joints. As stated before, thin vapor barriers have no way of being properly attached to the walls.

The saying “you get what you pay for” is very accurate for homes with a 6mil vapor barrier. In fact, homeowners will likely be paying for the original thin vapor barrier that came with the house when it was purchased or built and then paying again to have the crawl space encapsulated correctly.

Have your crawl space moisture concerns corrected permanently, using the 20mil CrawlSeal Encapsulation System. Sealing off your home from the exposed soil and block walls below will drastically reduce the negative effects of relative humidity in the crawl space.