A crawlspace encapsulation helps improve your home’s indoor comfort by sealing the foundation walls and the floor with insulation. This creates an airtight vapor barrier that prevents moisture issues that are known to promote mold growth and pest infestation inside your living spaces. Not only that, but it can prolong the lifespan of your HVAC system and boost your home’s energy efficiency.

Encapsulating your crawlspace is best left in the hands of professionals. Today, we explain the many disadvantages of going the DIY route on this particular home improvement project.

The Lack of Ventilation

Crawlspace ventilation is one of the key elements to ensuring a healthy indoor environment. However, many homeowners think that adding more fans or vents will help fix humidity issues in this part of the house. Doing so on your own will just worsen the problem, leading to compromised foundations and higher-than-normal moisture levels. Also, it is never advisable to vent your appliances to your crawlspace as doing so increases the risk of fires.

Incomplete Components for Encapsulation

Some homeowners improve their crawlspaces on their own but install incomplete components. These are often common but not as effective as the ones done by the pros. Many homes, in fact, only have a plastic vapor barrier on the floor space and nothing else. It can reduce humidity emanating from the wet earth below, but it doesn’t provide enough insulation to protect against the damaging effects of moisture.

Encapsulating Without Getting Rid of Underlying Issues

Another mistake homeowners make when they DIY crawlspace encapsulations involves their failure to address underlying issues such as standing water and mold growth. For the most part, the actual encapsulation should come after these underlying problems are fixed through either water damage restoration or mold remediation.

Got a wet crawlspace? Turn to Special Touch Restoration! We are a locally-owned and -operated company certified by the IICRC that provides comprehensive water and mold cleanup solutions. For more information about our services, call one of our technicians at (256) 330-4822 (North Alabama) or (251) 512-1424 (South Alabama). You may also fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.