Crawl Space Encapsulation in Erin, TN

We end up under a lot of those houses, and the pattern repeats. The crawl space was vented on the assumption that moving air keeps things dry. Through a humid Tennessee summer it does the opposite: warm wet air is drawn in, meets the cooler surfaces under the floor and condenses. The complaints are the same each time: a musty smell reaching the rooms above, floors that feel cold and slightly soft, and fibreglass batts that have taken on moisture, sagged and dropped.

Tennessee Ridge is only about 4 miles from Erin, so the two function almost as one working area for us, and the housing stock and crawl space conditions are much the same across that short distance.

The first step is the ground. After clearing debris and old fallen insulation, a heavy reinforced liner is laid across the whole floor, run up the foundation walls and sealed to them. Every seam is taped, every pier wrapped and every penetration closed, because the liner only works if it is continuous.

The second step is sealing the space from the outside. The foundation vents are closed, the rim and band joist are air sealed and insulated, and gaps at the sill are stopped. Closed-cell spray foam is the right tool at the rim because it air seals and insulates in one application and does not absorb moisture.

The third step is keeping the space dry once it is sealed, either with a small amount of conditioned air from the house or a dehumidifier sized to the space, so the crawl space dries down and holds at a stable level rather than swinging with the weather.

• Older in town homes with vented foundations. Closing the vents, lining the ground and sealing the rim removes the musty smell and the cold floor in the same job.
• Houses where the fibreglass has fallen. Batts on the ground mean the crawl space has been damp for a long time. The fix is to dry and seal the space, not to hang the same batts again.
• Rural properties around the edges of Houston County. Longer runs of pier foundation gain the most from one continuous sealed liner rather than patch repairs.
• Homes being prepared for sale or recently bought. A dry, clean, encapsulated crawl space is easy to inspect and removes a common objection before it comes up.
• Any floor that feels cold or smells earthy in summer. Both trace back to the same vented damp space underneath.

We fit the liner so it can be crawled on and inspected later, because a crawl space will be entered again. If the first service visit tears the barrier, the system is already finished. Taking the extra time on the seams and piers is the whole job, and it is the part that does not show until years later.

See the detail of our crawl space encapsulation service, or the full service area.