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This homeowner had concerns about water entering their crawl space. At our inspection one of the concerns, we found that the existing vapor barrier was not sealed, allowing moisture in. As part of the solution, we installed a 20mil Heavy-duty, Vapor Barrier with UltraFresh Antimicrobial built-in, called CleanSpace. We ran it up the walls sealing it and leaving a 2" viewing strip for a termite inspection and sealed and wrapped all the piers.
Before: The foundation walls of this crawl space are created with porous cinderblocks, meaning they let water vapor seep through. Without proper encapsulation, the relative humidity is out of the homeowner’s control. During the wetter seasons, the ground outside the home is soaked with water each time it rains and eventually the moisture will find its way through these porous foundation walls, causing the relative humidity in the crawl space to rise with the temperature.
After: The foundation walls of the crawl space in this picture have been covered and sealed with closed-cell spray foam. The moisture is no longer able to access the crawl space through the walls due to the foam sealing over the vapor barrier. The closed-cell foam becomes an air barrier and vapor retarder if sprayed to 1.5” or more. This solution will assist in keeping the relative humidity under control by blocking water vapor from the ground outside to enter, stopping mold or mildew from growing on any organic materials by cutting out the moisture they need to thrive.
Successfully sealing a crawl space vent to control moisture and temperature