Johnboy2978
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- Sep 19, 2014
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If this is the wrong forum, feel free to move. Wasn't sure where to post.
I have a 2 story house built in about 1978 in southwest Va. The crawl space is approximately 800 sq feet and is vented and a very tight space. Previous owners failed to put vapor barrier down to cover the entire area, so only about half is covered. Much of the back half which didn't have a barrier has wet and saggy insulation and I just recently had to get a termite treatment where I noticed they've taken advantage of the damp space.
I know I need to basically yank everything and do it right but I'm very confused about leaving it vented or going for encapsulation and enclosing the space. I know encapsulation can get pretty expensive and I'm not entirely sure that's the way to go, but this is pretty far outside of my knowledge base. I've googled the topic a bit and I see pros from those sites who make their business from doing encapsulations and cons from others. I don't want to go down that path and spend a lot of money if it's not going to be effective and if it's going to cause other issues down the line.
I had a company to come assess the situation today and they ball parked the fix at 12.5k for a 4 day job (pretty nice profit if you ask me). The recommendation was to put it drainage around the perimeter of the crawlspace (thought we were getting some water run off that was coming in from the vents being too low to the ground as well as humid air), sealing up all vents, complete encapsulation, and install of a humidifier. There was also a big "IF" they would even do it b/c the space is so limited (around 18" in a few areas) and the HVAC vents would have to be removed by an HVAC contractor before they'd do it.
There's no way I can see that I can justify that kind of money for this. I've got another company next week for an evaluation.
Anyone care to give me some experience in the area and a push in the right direction? It will certainly be appreciated.
Thanks
I have a 2 story house built in about 1978 in southwest Va. The crawl space is approximately 800 sq feet and is vented and a very tight space. Previous owners failed to put vapor barrier down to cover the entire area, so only about half is covered. Much of the back half which didn't have a barrier has wet and saggy insulation and I just recently had to get a termite treatment where I noticed they've taken advantage of the damp space.
I know I need to basically yank everything and do it right but I'm very confused about leaving it vented or going for encapsulation and enclosing the space. I know encapsulation can get pretty expensive and I'm not entirely sure that's the way to go, but this is pretty far outside of my knowledge base. I've googled the topic a bit and I see pros from those sites who make their business from doing encapsulations and cons from others. I don't want to go down that path and spend a lot of money if it's not going to be effective and if it's going to cause other issues down the line.
I had a company to come assess the situation today and they ball parked the fix at 12.5k for a 4 day job (pretty nice profit if you ask me). The recommendation was to put it drainage around the perimeter of the crawlspace (thought we were getting some water run off that was coming in from the vents being too low to the ground as well as humid air), sealing up all vents, complete encapsulation, and install of a humidifier. There was also a big "IF" they would even do it b/c the space is so limited (around 18" in a few areas) and the HVAC vents would have to be removed by an HVAC contractor before they'd do it.
There's no way I can see that I can justify that kind of money for this. I've got another company next week for an evaluation.
Anyone care to give me some experience in the area and a push in the right direction? It will certainly be appreciated.
Thanks