Before & After Photos

These homeowners in Louisa wanted to encapsulate the crawl space on their newly constructed home. The exposed dirt flooring of the crawl space would continue to allow the earth's moisture to rise into the crawl space unless covered and sealed. The moisture rising from the earth can increase the relative humidity of the crawl space, which can then lead to mold growth, condensation, and moisture damage to certain materials. We placed a 10-mil CleanSpace vapor barrier over the dirt flooring to help protect the crawl space from rising moisture. This liner gets wrapped around all pillars and is mechanically sealed to the foundation walls six to eight inches above the outside grade. Any seams and gaps are sealed with a unique vinyl tape. The vapor barrier will help to prevent moisture from elevating the relative humidity, and it gives the crawl space a brighter and cleaner aesthetic.

Before encapsulating this crawl space, we treated the joists with an antimicrobial called Shockwave. This product is a hospital-grade antimicrobial designed to kill the mold and mildew growth. 

Mold needs warm temperatures, high relative humidity and organic material to grow. In our area, crawl spaces create the perfect environment for this. We did a physical wipe down of the joists with an antimicrobial to kill and remove the mold growing on the wood.

Fiberglass Batts between the joists absorb moisture like a sponge. They hold moisture against the wood joists and fall and sag over time. Their paper backing and the wood floor joists are organic material that often has mold growing on them. We removed the old insulation and installed new, foam board insulation on the crawl space walls. 

Previously, this crawl space had a 6-mil lightweight vapor barrier that was torn and even missing in places. We installed the CleanSpace Encapsulation System. The CleanSpace vapor barrier is a heavy-duty 20-mil liner that is perfect for crawl spaces that have service persons working on equipment, plumbing, or electrical, or for storage. It resists rips and tears, and is fastened to the walls and wrapped around piers sealing the earth off from the home.