That's right, a very common problem in homes is often a lack of insulation. No more cold floors, no more damaging mold, and high energy costs.
You can enclose your crawl space in order to turn it into an encapsulated space with drywall, insulation, flooring, and air circulation. This is a smart solution that goes beyond just providing you with a nicer place to store your stuff.
You have to be aware that thanks to openings found in the foundation wall, pests, insects, and air are being drawn into the area below your living quarters. If you have a vented crawl space, now is the time to solve any issues now before they escalate.
Problems with Crawl Space Insulation
- Nonfunctional insulation – Batts installed in the crawlspace between the joists. When they get wet, they compress and fall out of place, which ends up raising them off the floor.
- Mold and moisture accumulation is fairly common in hollow spaces like crawl spaces. Moist air from the outside forms when it gets in, cooling the inside of the space. This leads to condensation that can eventually accumulate enough water to start cultivating mold on wood surfaces, like joists and beams. If you ignore mold, you'll eventually have wood rot, which is a big structural problem and expensive to fix. Dirt floors have more moisture problems because of their soil.
- High heating bills from cold floors... cold winter air circulating under the floorboards can make the baseboards, windowsills & even walls cold. In turn, they boost your heating costs as heat travels up to heat those areas as well as the rest of your house. Poorly insulated fiberglass insulation is a big contributor to this.
- Termites and carpenter ants both look for moist places like vented crawl spaces, where they can make nests and cause serious damage.
Encapsulating and Insulating Crawl Spaces
Problems in crawl spaces can be solved by encapsulating them. This involves sealing the crawl space access door and any vents with reusable airtight covers.
The moisture barrier is installed around the foundation walls and over the floor. In some cases, you may need waterproofing and dehumidification as well.
Rigid foam provides a level of comfort and value to your home by completely separating the crawl space from the outside.
More about crawl space insulation.
