Creepy Crawl Space No More: Six Reasons to Encapsulate

It’s time to talk about your crawl space.

I know you don’t want to. It’s probably gross down there, somewhere in the range from “creepy” to “hold your nose” so it’s understandable, but you don’t have to spend your days avoiding it, or worse yet, worrying about what’s happening down there.

Let’s look at the positives of an encapsulated crawl space.

Comfort

Your floors will be warmer. Your house will be warmer. In the winter, that is. In the summer, everything will stay cooler. When you encapsulate a crawl space, the benefits are twofold: You protect the crawl space from the outdoors, but you also protect the house from the crawl space. This means that your home isn’t as affected by the ground temperature, which means that it’s less prone to wild temperature swings.

Safety

Ambient moisture in your crawl space leads to mold, which can affect your safety in multiple ways. It rots the support beams, which leads to sagging and collapsing floors. Mold spores also affect the air quality in your home, which can lead to allergies and asthma, or exacerbate pre-existing conditions. By encapsulating the crawl space, it’s protected from moisture, which means there’s no chance for mold to grow.

Money

With your home free from the effects of the ground temperature on your crawl space, you’ll notice fewer temperature swings, which means your HVAC system will get a break - and so will your energy bills. And if you decide to move, an encapsulated, energy efficient crawl space can increase the value of your home.

Less creepy

I’m not going to say “not creepy,” because it’s a tunnel under your home, so it’s inherently a little creepy. But instead of a dark, bumpy, dirty abyss you have to navigate, imagine a flat, clean, bright white surface that both protects from dirt and naturally enhances visibility. A space free of bugs, mystery puddles, and all of the dirt in the northern hemisphere.

More space

Once your crawl space is water, dirt, and bug-free, surprise! You’ve created storage space. The amount will vary based on the size of your crawl space, and you can’t exactly store your ornery teenager down there, but that giant bin of cards from his Pokemon phase? Bingo. Store seasonal decorations, sentimental things you never use but can’t part with, and a myriad of other items down there, and free up precious closet space upstairs.

Peace of mind

Don’t underestimate how stressed out you are by what’s happening under your home. Once you don’t have to wonder - because the answer is a peaceful “nothing” - you’ll realize how much time you spent fixing, or avoiding, the minor and major problems created by your crawl space.