Closing Your Homes Crawlspace: An Overview
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors. The EPA also says that concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor pollutants.
You can take one simple step to improve your air quality right now by closing your homes crawl space. This will improve and protect your indoor air quality, as well as, make your house more energy efficient.
Keep reading to find out more about crawl space encapsulation and all the benefits it can bring to your health and your home by closing your homes crawl space.
Crawl Space Encapsulation
Crawl space encapsulation is when you seal your home to outside negative elements by closing your homes crawl space. These elements can include moisture, pests, or harsh temperatures.
Proper encapsulation often has a number of different elements based on the needs of your home.
Insulation and Barriers
Protecting crawl space air starts with insulating the sides and the top of the crawl space. This helps regulate the temperature and the insulation is moisture resistant to help stop mold.
Putting a polyethylene barrier on the floor of the crawl space can also help add a layer of protection. The floor barrier helps keep any moisture from building up and affecting your air quality.
These also help regulate the temperature of your crawl space which helps your heating and cooling systems.
Dehumidifiers
The danger of mold and mildew building up in a crawl space is one of the biggest problems homeowners have. Sealing the space and adding a dehumidifier help to protect the crawl space from too much moisture.
This is an important addition especially during the summer months when humidity and moisture can build up in the air. Your dehumidifier will work automatically keeping your crawl space dry and moving excess moisture out.
Protected Openings
Venting crawl spaces was once thought of as a solution but studies have shown that outside air can cause problems under the house. Sealing all air openings with weatherstripping helps maintain a good atmosphere under your house.
This means all doors and openings should also get set up for proper protection.
Crawl Space Encapsulation Benefits
Closing your home’s crawl space is a simple procedure that adds benefits many people don’t think about. These benefits can help protect your house, your health, and your budget.
Healthy Air
Your crawl space air does affect the atmosphere of your home. If you have issues with mold, that mold will cause problems with the air you breathe in your home.
This can also cause some serious health problems in your family. The CDC lists some of those problems:
- Stuffy nose, coughing or wheezing
- Burning eyes, skin rash
- Immune-compromised people could get lung infections
You want to make sure your home air environment is safe. A crawl space encapsulation can help prevent any possible problems with mold.
Protects Your House
Water that has built up in your crawl space has the potential of seeping through the soil and hurting your home’s foundation. Too much moisture can also hurt your pipes and other equipment located in the crawl space.
Moisture is also the biggest attraction for termites. If you have a moist environment, it will encourage termites to come to live there. Termites will pass by houses with encapsulated environments because there is no moisture.
You don’t want to do anything to encourage termites to establish a colony under your house. Too often their damage isn’t seen until it is severe and expensive. This is another reason why closing your homes crawl space is a great idea!
Energy Efficient
Your floors will also feel the weather more without a protected crawl space. They will get hotter in the summer and cooler in the winter. This will cause your heating and cooling systems to work even harder to keep up.
You could see significant savings on your energy bill throughout the year with an encapsulated crawl space.
Crawl Space Encapsulation Professionals
Some homeowners think that the encapsulation process is pretty simple and that they can do it themselves. However, the process deals with some important areas that a professional will have the experience to take care of.
Waterproofing
The most important part closing your homes crawl space is waterproofing. This means you want to make sure you don’t have any leaks or other issues with moisture.
Professionals will know what things to look for when surveying your crawl space and closing your homes crawl space. They can also anticipate future issues and take care of them before the encapsulation begins.
This gives you peace of mind so you won’t have to worry about problems coming with moisture in your crawl space.
Venting Needs
Many crawl spaces have pipes from furnaces, air conditioners, or other mechanical parts of the house. These will all need to get properly vented to the outside.
This is an important procedure when closing your homes crawl space and you don’t want to mess this up doing it yourself. Problems with this piping could develop if not done properly and hurt the equipment and your house itself.
Pest Management
One of the biggest issues with many crawl spaces is potential pest infestations. Homeowners may have mice or other pests living under their homes and they don’t even know it.
You want professionals who will take care of any pest problems that could pop up. They are experts at eradicating the problems and closing your homes crawl space so it won’t happen again.
Improve Your Crawl Space Air Quality
Improving the air quality of your home and the safety of your home can both happen by closing your homes crawl space. Closing your homes crawl space will put you more in control of the atmosphere of your home.
Throughout North Carolina, people trust the professionals at Pest Management Systems Inc. We are experts in crawl space encapsulation which helps you have a safe, efficient, and pest-free crawl space.
Contact us about closing your homes crawl space and let Pest Management Systems answer any questions you have.
While these steps/tips will help reduce the likelihood of pests, there is no guaranteed way to eliminate all risks.
