A Healthier Home Starts with Installing a Crawl Space Vapor Barrier
According to the EPA, our indoor environment is two to five times more toxic than the outdoor environment. Since forty percent of the air you breathe comes from your crawl space, a crawl space vapor barrier is an improvement you should consider.
Often, people don’t want to venture into their crawl spaces, since they’re damp, dark, cold, and often unfinished. Since they’re humid, they can invite threats that go unnoticed until they become serious. These include mold and wood-boring bugs, which, in turn, might invite rodents and other pests.
A Solution for Moisture
Moisture naturally emanates from the soil, and a crawl space vapor barrier, sometimes called an encapsulation system, can mitigate moisture. It’s a thick, plastic liner installed over the dirt floor and up the foundation walls. We perform these installations at Select Basement Waterproofing and ensure:
- The vapor barrier has a good “perm” rating number, which measures the transference of vapor through the product (the lower the number, the higher the product’s resistance)
- Proper liner overlapping
- Correct taping of seams and anchoring to the foundation
Other Remediation Suggestions
Of course, the list above is a simple overview. It’s also important to look at the overall site and offer other remediation suggestions. Insulation may need removal or replacement. Leaky pipes, dryer vents, or outside sources may be causing moisture and need repair. If there is mold, it will need removal before installing the crawl space vapor barrier.
If you suspect or know of outside sources of moisture intrusion, you may want to discuss remedying those as well. French drains, for example, are efficient systems for drawing water away from homes.
Once moisture is no longer a problem in your crawl space, you’ll be free to use it for storage or other purposes. In any event, you’ll gain peace of mind in knowing your home is a healthier place than it was. If you’d like a professional evaluation, contact us.