Crawl Space Encapsulation: Understanding the Benefits

The crawl space is a small area of your home that can have a major impact on the indoor air quality. Along with pests and airborne pathogens, crawl spaces often consist of high humidity. Since humid air rises, it can get into the rest of your home and make it more difficult for you to cool the area during the summer. You can resolve these issues with crawl space encapsulation.

What Is Crawl Space Encapsulation?

Regardless of how clean your crawl space is, humidity and moisture can accumulate quickly. Once the temperatures rise during the spring and summer seasons, it’s difficult to prevent high humidity in crawl spaces. This issue increases the chance of health problems and structural damage to your home. Crawl space encapsulation is a solution that’s designed to insulate this area and keep most of these problems at bay.

When you request crawl space encapsulation in Charlotte, NC, a dry buffer will be placed between your floor and the crawl space. It will also cover the walls and floor of the crawl space. The vapor barrier is made with a reinforced polyethylene material.

Once the material is installed, the moisture in your crawl space won’t rise to the floor of your home. The vents in the area will be sealed as well. Insulation is sometimes added to the walls to increase thermal resistance. If your crawl space contains too much moisture, a dehumidifier may be placed inside to get rid of the excess condensation.

Advantages of Crawl Space Encapsulation

From better indoor air quality to lower energy costs, crawl space encapsulation offers many benefits.

Keep Pests Out of Your Home

A wide range of different pests tend to make their way into crawl spaces. If you don’t obtain encapsulation services, rats, moles, beetles, and roaches can get into your crawl space.

The area is usually dark and humid, which is the ideal environment for rodents and insects. Some of these pests can carry harmful diseases, which is why it’s best that you keep them out of your home. When you encapsulate this portion of your home, vermin can no longer get in.

Boost Your Indoor Air Quality

A lot of the air that circulates throughout your home comes from your crawl space. When this air moves from room to room, it can carry the humidity and toxins that are likely present in your crawl space.

By encapsulating this area, the quality of your indoor air should improve considerably. This service can help eliminate dust and allergens in your home. It might also improve the mental health of the people who live there. Poor air quality can lead to numerous health problems, which include the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).

Make Your Home More Comfortable

If any of the rooms in your home are outfitted with wooden floors, you may notice that the surface is cold when your bare feet step on it. Since crawl space encapsulation adds a form of insulation, the floors throughout your home won’t be as chilly when the temperatures drop.

Keep Mold and Mildew Away

Mold is a type of harmful growth that’s often difficult to detect and can spread quickly. While you might not see mold, it’s usually characterized by a musty odor. If mold spores get into the air, they can cause numerous health problems, including respiratory issues. Encapsulation adds a moisture-proof barrier to your crawl space that keeps mold and mildew away.

Strengthen Your Home’s Structural Integrity

If the crawl space becomes too humid, the moisture buildup might eventually weaken the load-bearing piers that make up your foundation. Pests and mold can also cause damage to concrete, wooden, and metal materials in and around the crawl space. Once you secure the area with a vapor barrier, these issues should be mitigated, which allows you to restore your home’s structural integrity.

Reduce Heating and Cooling Costs

The addition of a crawl space vapor barrier means that the walls will benefit from thick insulation. Since the barrier also covers the floor, it should be much easier to prevent external temperatures from significantly altering the reading on your thermostat.
If you can more effectively maintain indoor temperatures during the summer and winter seasons, your heating and cooling costs won’t be as high. Your HVAC system also won’t need to work as hard, which could extend its longevity.

Provide Additional Duct Insulation

Since crawl space encapsulation adds another layer of protection, humidity shouldn’t build up in your air ducts. A buildup of condensation can be highly damaging to the air ducts. It’s the perfect environment for mold to grow. Your air conditioner may not be able to run efficiently. Once the crawl space is sealed, your air ducts should remain in good condition.

Eliminate Foul Odors

Have you noticed an odd and somewhat pungent smell after opening your crawl space? When you schedule crawl space encapsulation in Charlotte, NC, you can have the area cleaned out before the vapor barrier is added. The space will then be sealed, which should prevent odors from forming in the future.

Accommodates Radiant Heating

Once you obtain crawl space dehumidification services, you’ll be able to easily install radiant heating in the area above the crawl space. Without the vapor barrier that’s created by the encapsulation service, the heat that’s generated from a radiant heating system will be pushed downward and into the crawl space.
Once the vapor barrier is in place, the heat will spread upwards and warm the interior of your home. Keep in mind that radiant heating is highly energy efficient and can save you money on your monthly utility bills.

Increase the Value of Your Home

By requesting a crawl space inspection and encapsulation, you may be able to increase the value of your home. This service can make your home more appealing because of all the other benefits it provides, which might allow you to post a higher asking price when it comes time to sell.

Schedule a Crawl Space Encapsulation Appointment

If you’re interested in lowering your energy bills, improving your home’s air quality, and keeping pests out, consider crawl space encapsulation. At Noosa Pest Management, we proudly provide crawl space dehumidification and encapsulation services to all Charlotte, NC residents. Call (704) 499-9922 to schedule an appointment or to learn more about our pest control services.