Thinking About Encapsulating Your Crawl Space? Consider This Before Plunking Down the Big Bucks. . .
An Encapsulated Crawl Space
We've heard the pitch enough times to regurgitate it from memory: "All sources of moisture will be blocked out with a 15-mil (or 20-mil, or maybe even 30-mil) thick vapor barrier that covers the entire floor area, extends up the foundation walls and piers - leaving a small gap at the top per code for termite inspection - and is permanently affixed to the walls using a special tape. All crawl space vents will be sealed. We can also install an optional industrial strength dehumidifier to ensure that you never have a moisture problem under your house again. The crawl space will look nice and clean and tidy, and if tall enough it can even be turned into functional space for storage purposes. . ." And so the story goes.
In actuality - yes, a professional encapsulation job will indeed aesthetically transform a dirty, ugly crawl space into one that is considerably more inviting, and the white plastic typically employed as the primary encasing material certainly makes for a sterile and pure appearance. But at what price? And what are we really inviting by sealing this environment? And why the emphasis on the word "appearance"? Please read on so you can make an informed decision prior to incurring a very sizable expense and who-knows-what-else a few years from now.
Yep - We Considered Encapsulating. . .
That's right - prior to really researching encapsulation as a solution, we at Coastal Dry Home - well, before we became Coastal Dry Home, that is - strongly considered this treatment for our sick crawl space because: 1) On the surface it made sense - seal it up, dehumidify it and be done with it; 2) It sure would look a lot nicer, and yeah, we could use some extra storage space; and 3) The sales folks from the encapsulation companies definitely did a great job in making it sound like the be-all, end-all of damp crawl space cures.
. . . And Got Some Bids. . .
So we entertained crawl space encapsulation bids from multiple sources - both the larger franchise types as well as local companies - and after receiving quotes ranging from $10,000 (without dehumidification) to upwards of $16,000 we quickly came to understand why the sales people were both good. . . .and aggressive.
. . . And Had to Pick Ourselves Up Off the Floor
Now, we appreciate entrepreneurship as much as anyone; we support a free market capitalism-based society and we would never renounce anyone for trying to earn an honest living. But $12k - $14k on average to lay plastic down and around our 1,800 sq. ft. dank dungeon???!!! Sadly, good and decent people have paid and continue to pay these prices because, well, they really want their houses to be dry and smell better, and encapsulation marketing, hype and sales pitches are so strong that they are made to believe that encapsulation is the only answer.
Heck, even we fell prey to it and were so sold on encapsulation as THE solution for our crawl space that we looked into do-it-yourself options after being bowled over by the bids we received. In doing so we subsequently learned that although it would be an ugly, time-consuming project - and the result would probably not be as neat and tidy as a professional job - we could accomplish it for less than $3,000 using good quality materials. Yep - this concept had us - hook, line and sinker.
But Then We Decided to do Our Due Diligence and Conduct Our Own Encapsulation Research. . .
So we took a step back - a pause that refreshes - to give more thoughtful consideration to the path upon which we were about to embark. We did our best to put our hyped-up "Tim the Toolman" ("Bob the Builder" for you younger folks) big DIY project enthusiasm aside, we suppressed the inner voices saying, "well, encapsulation companies are charging - and getting - a lot of money for it so it must work", and we actually took a temporary detour to do some research and think this "solution" through logically before pulling the trigger. In retrospect, based on what we learned we're very fortunate and thankful that we did.
. . . And Arrived at These Conclusions
Our crawl space would definitely look cleaner, BUT
In actuality - yes, a professional encapsulation job will indeed aesthetically transform a dirty, ugly crawl space into one that is considerably more inviting, and the white plastic typically employed as the primary encasing material certainly makes for a sterile and pure appearance. But at what price? And what are we really inviting by sealing this environment? And why the emphasis on the word "appearance"? Please read on so you can make an informed decision prior to incurring a very sizable expense and who-knows-what-else a few years from now.
Yep - We Considered Encapsulating. . .
That's right - prior to really researching encapsulation as a solution, we at Coastal Dry Home - well, before we became Coastal Dry Home, that is - strongly considered this treatment for our sick crawl space because: 1) On the surface it made sense - seal it up, dehumidify it and be done with it; 2) It sure would look a lot nicer, and yeah, we could use some extra storage space; and 3) The sales folks from the encapsulation companies definitely did a great job in making it sound like the be-all, end-all of damp crawl space cures.
. . . And Got Some Bids. . .
So we entertained crawl space encapsulation bids from multiple sources - both the larger franchise types as well as local companies - and after receiving quotes ranging from $10,000 (without dehumidification) to upwards of $16,000 we quickly came to understand why the sales people were both good. . . .and aggressive.
. . . And Had to Pick Ourselves Up Off the Floor
Now, we appreciate entrepreneurship as much as anyone; we support a free market capitalism-based society and we would never renounce anyone for trying to earn an honest living. But $12k - $14k on average to lay plastic down and around our 1,800 sq. ft. dank dungeon???!!! Sadly, good and decent people have paid and continue to pay these prices because, well, they really want their houses to be dry and smell better, and encapsulation marketing, hype and sales pitches are so strong that they are made to believe that encapsulation is the only answer.
Heck, even we fell prey to it and were so sold on encapsulation as THE solution for our crawl space that we looked into do-it-yourself options after being bowled over by the bids we received. In doing so we subsequently learned that although it would be an ugly, time-consuming project - and the result would probably not be as neat and tidy as a professional job - we could accomplish it for less than $3,000 using good quality materials. Yep - this concept had us - hook, line and sinker.
But Then We Decided to do Our Due Diligence and Conduct Our Own Encapsulation Research. . .
So we took a step back - a pause that refreshes - to give more thoughtful consideration to the path upon which we were about to embark. We did our best to put our hyped-up "Tim the Toolman" ("Bob the Builder" for you younger folks) big DIY project enthusiasm aside, we suppressed the inner voices saying, "well, encapsulation companies are charging - and getting - a lot of money for it so it must work", and we actually took a temporary detour to do some research and think this "solution" through logically before pulling the trigger. In retrospect, based on what we learned we're very fortunate and thankful that we did.
. . . And Arrived at These Conclusions
Our crawl space would definitely look cleaner, BUT
