There is another industry that has vented dirt crawl spaces to thank for its existence -- structural repairs to replace floor joists, girders, and sill plates -- basically the entire floor framing system under your house. These repairs aren't cheap. In fact, they can be very expensive. You can imagine a carpenter figuring out how he's going to crawl under your home and get new 16 foot long 2" x 10"s in place, with all the duct work, wiring, plumbing, and bridging (cross bracing) that are attached to the old rotted joists, all while operating on his back in a low crawl space. It's not easy on him, and it's not going to be easy on your bank account.

Rotted Sill Plate in Crawlspace (Left) In this image the sill plate rotting right over this vent is no coincidence. That the problem wasn't fixed after the wood was replaced is the irony.

Most of the time, these structural repairs are done without ever fixing the problem! So it's only a matter of time before the new framing rots out, and it has to be done again.

What is the design life of a house? In other words, how long do you want your house to last without needing major repairs? If the answer is longer than 10 or 15 or 25 years, then you better fix your dirt crawl space.

Rotted Floor Joist in Crawlspace (Right and left) When the floors in nearly all 36 units in this New England condominium complex began bouncing and getting soft, they realized the crawl spaces were a bigger problem than they thought. As an emergency measure, they had to "sister" new framing lumber to each side of every girder and every floor joist so the homes would not cave in. Eventually they hired Basement Systems to install a CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation system to fix the moisture problem.

What's the Cost of Not Fixing it?
When you look at the cost of higher energy bills, and especially when you add that year's pro rata share of rot repairs when they eventually will have to be done, you can easily see that it is more expensive to live with a dirt crawl space than to fix it right now. By not fixing your dirt crawl space, over the life of the house, you are paying many times more than it costs to fix now.

Rusted RX Cable in Crawlspace (Left) When BX cable rusts out, the electrical ground is lost - a very dangerous situation.

Question: What's cheaper, replacing the floors and paying higher energy bills, or fixing the dirt crawl space?

Answer: Fixing your dirt crawl space.

For more information on how the CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation System can prevent dry building materials and prevent structural damage to your home, contact your local CleanSpace Installer for a FREE Estimate and Crawl Space Inspection.