It made me think about the time my mama had a leak in the crawl space of her house out in the country. This was in East Texas and it was hot and humid and made worse with the leak. I was volunteered to go under while my step dad held the spot light for me. I got under and into the space about 2 yards and spotted the leak and began to head for it, when I heard my stepdad say something but I couldn't understand him with his thick West Texas accent. I yelled back I see the leak and there's a pool of water below it! Finally I understood him. SNAKE!! I froze what do I do asked?! He said come towards me I started shimmering my way to him on my elbows and moving my hips. I was almost to the way out when I heard a loud bang and my ears started ringing. I finally got out! It was a cottonmouth and he shot it right in the face! But it didn't kill it. I refuse to go back under there with a pissed off cottonmouth!
You can certainly do your own.Ive done my own here in California. Everyone I've shown has hired me to help them do theirs as well. Did my parents myself as well with a couple neighborhood 16-17 year old kids helping them to get into a trade. I'm RU-vid certified so to speak. Your original video is one of my favorites for reference.
I DIY’d the encapsulation and insulation of my crawl space with the help of my sister. We are both women in our late 60’s. It’s an icky labor intensive job but so doable. I watched tons of RU-vid videos before starting to devise the best plan of attack.
My house was built in 1930 and the crawl space is GNARLY. The moisture has really messed up the hardwood floors, the dust is CRAZY, and it never really cools down in the extreme Texas summer heat.
Not only is encapsulating the crawl space a great idea, but making it deep enough so it can be easily moved through without needing to squirm like a worm to move around and do work under the house a lot easier. Do this at the building of the house, deep and encapsulated, and it will more than pay for the cost over a few years and will be far easier and cheaper than doing it afterward. And since leaks and overflows happen, I would have some sort of drain pan installed under the bathrooms and kitchen and laundry room and plumbed so it drains out the side of the foundation and into the yard.
@Builder Brigade i have done 2 of those in 7 years working for pest control company here in South Carolina you definitely right there is lots of pros to encapsulate your crawl space, and you definitely right its not cheap the company i worked for charged anywhere from 10 to 15k for work not to mention you have to pay electrians, plumbers, HVAC ppl to come and fix anything thats need to be fixed. Its alot of money but if done right encapsulate vapor barrier will last you 10 years and more so you do get alot of time to make that money back plus it's more like investment cause at the end it will only improve quality of your home in long term. Who ever did the job in video you posted definitely was professional with alot of experience. Its hard work and usually between 3 guys it will take about 5 days to complete if not more obviously just depends on the size of the house.
We have one. In foam and plastic. 74 degrees year round in Missouri. You can walk into ours and one could actually sleep down there. Really comfortable.
If you decide to do an encap you must dehumidify at a certain rate or partially condition at a certain rate. It's not just code it makes sense from an air quality and efficiency standpoint. And I see so many companies do encapsulation on a big crawl space and stick the dehumidifier in the center with no ducting to one side to move air around. I've taken wood moisture readings at the far end and they are always higher than the area right near the dehumidifier.
I always love watching your videos when they come up as recommendations because of how much details you put out there about the subject that you’re talking about cause I actually learned a few things from just this video typically I’ve learned something from each one of them though. Even if some of the subjects aren’t necessarily affordable for me, I still like to watch them just to keep an idea out for possible future projects that may come up. 😅 anyway keep up the with the fantastic videos.
We encapsulated out crawl space and after a year we started noticing a putrid smell. Is there something we could be doing to eliminate the smell? I worry about mold growing under the plastic since it is a dirt floor. Your channel is awesome. Thanks for all the wonderful tips 🤗
I had a guy come out of my crawlspace solid white in the face from the rat gang that was living down there. He didn't mind the 100s of cricket demon spiders. Turns out he was taking care of mold, explains hazmat suit he was wearing, without our knowledge of why. They told us it was only for scraping cricket spider dung. We had black mold from a slow leak in a cracked pipe
I’ve done it, I live near Montreal Canada. I’d say it’s definitely worth it if you don’t want the moisture coming from the ground affecting the whole house in the long run. The price was tied up in other renovations I made, but let’s say it was around 8k
As a victim of poor work, I would actually recommend you DIY your crawlspace encapsulation. Research it extensively so you know exactly what you need and how to do the job. Get a least 2-3 buddies to help you so you can finish it in a weekend. You'll save money and you'll know the quality of the work you did. What happened to me? A guy told me I didn't need an encapsulation, just a vapor barrier on the floor and a dehumidifier. Well, as you could probably imagine, the dehumidifier helps some, but it's constantly running since the crawlspace isn't fully encapsulated and the vents are still open. I insisted I wanted a 12 mil vapor barrier (worth the extra $$ when you encapsulate). He said he would use 12 mil but put down 6 mil, the bare minimum to meet code requirements. Now I'm quite positive I'm going to have to encapsulate anyways eventually.
Under my old cape cod house is a basement with a wood stairway, beautifully painted, and with a nice concrete floor. There’s also a nice walk in shower, huge porcelain wash sink, washer & dryer, a nat gas furnace. The rest of the area has a wood working shop w/tools, giant floor space with shelving for canned goods, etc. My home was built in 1949, with original GE kitchen still intact, I bought from 96 yr old electrical engineer.
@@Tajagee123 Normally in Germany, a solid concrete foundation is poured on a thick layer of gravel if there is not a normal concrete basement under the house anyway. A solid house made of concrete, expanded clay, plaster or brick is usually built on top of this or, more recently, sometimes a prefabricated house made of wood and plasterboard. The façade is heavily insulated on the outside to comply with building regulations. Sewage pipes are usually laid under the foundation, while water, electricity and heating pipes are laid in the walls or under the tertiary sound insulation of the respective floor.
My ranch house was built in 1940. It never been re-leveled since it was built. The ground has settled, my floors are spongy. I have a foundation company coming out to install smart jacks with steel I-beams. That will re-level. Then we are encapsulating with a de-humidifier. I'm looking forward to this. My doors will close properly and my house will be leveled right. Once that is done. I'm doing siding and rain gutters.
If you ever want too sell your property doing this with your crawl space wont make you even a dime more,so basically a waste of money unless you are planning too stay a long time in your home.
It’s not in all places build houses like that in America. It’s more of an outdated practice. The majority of homes I have seen are slab foundations, but I live in an earthquake zone. Although, I have seen older homes and mobile/trailer home in my area with crawl spaces. Personally, I don’t think I could live in a home with a crawl space because I’m terrified of spider and other bugs and I heard a crazy story from a friend pulling 5-6 ft long snake out from their crawl space.😱🫣🫥😵💫😵
In many cases, it is because natural ground water levels (spring thaw, for instance) would flood a basement periodically without flooding the surface of the ground.
@@eveningabused5123we do too, the crawl space is below the basement. also the crawl space is usually only present in homes throughout the midwest nowadays due to tornadoes.
As a non-american, I don't understand the need for a crawlspace under a house. In Europe that space is filled with concrete, and maybe has a layer of piping for heating that's right under the floor, but still covered in concrete.
Not all houses are built this way in the US. Depends on where and how old. Many homes have full built out basements and some are on slab and in colder climates there is radiant heating and plumbing in them.
@BuilderBrigade I was about to pull the trigger on encapsulating my crawl space but....I have a big rat problem in my crawl space. ALL of the insulation and vapor barrier were just removed and I am trying to decide which method to use for finishing up. Leave it uninsulated with no vapor barrier, reinstall fiberglass on the subfloor and ducts, spray foam on ducts and sub-floor or ENCAPSULATION (twice as much)$$$. A Pest Control company was just here and said Encapsulation is great for everything EXCEPT pests. The thick plastic sealed Vapor Barrier area prevents pest control people from seeing, termites, rodents, and bugs because they get under it and nest or burrow in places you cannot see. They can't inspect just below the mudline or under the vapor barrier. So, he's one guy saying don't do it. I don't see how he would be biased because it doesn't change as I have to have a pest control program no matter what. He could be wrong though but it seems reasonable. Also, he said he could not guarantee successful pest control with encapsulation. I just talked to my Insulation contractor and said yes encapsulation does make it harder for the pest control people especially if you have a rat problem. What's everyone take on this?
I did pest control inspections for about a year. This would make it difficult to full ybe able to see the extent of a pest problem, especially termites. They can access the house from under the sheet and may be able to actually tear through it. And it would also make the conventional treatment for termites difficult because a termite treatment involves treating the soil under the house. I’ve been under hundreds of crawl spaces and I’ve never come across one like this so I can’t say for sure. There are other ways to treat for termites which could involve foaming the walls and under the floors but those are a little bit more pricey than the conventional method here in AZ
It wouldn't be completely encapsulated so you'd be missing out on some of these benefits but man it would be awesome to have especially doing work under there. I buddy of mine did this so he can use a creeper to navigate under the house.
If my soil here in the south doesn't allow for a basement, I would want to pour a slab after encapsulation of crawlspace so it's actually useful storage and perhaps the kids can have their playroom and hideouts, etc. I'd probably even make a half staircase for easy access and obviously at that point have some egress windows. Though at that point, It may just make sense to raise the whole house up, get a full basement, and let the first floor be raised off the ground several feet.
@@theslawekI think you should just move! I'm in same situation and it was a blessing in disguise. I got to stay in area in a better" fitting" home . The seller had encapsulated home and poured concrete with sand & gravel underneath rubber sheeting. It would have cost thousands and people dont do that anymore. We also got nicer neighbors and a great chance to purge and deco place better. We accumulate clutter this was a healthy and happy new start. Good luck 🤞 and blessings 🙏
Several reasons. This allows access to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. This also limits moisture inside the home, improves indoor air quality
The concrete will 100% crack allowing ants and other small insects to get through it and doesn't seal out bad air coming in from the ground. Although it would be much better than nothing at all but super expensive.
There are many reasons why a house might not have a basement. Too close to a watershed, the ground is too close to bedrock, the house is on a hillside, etc.
@@okaydude2863 you mean “the roaches from outside”? We have those in our neighborhood (much like you’d find them on any city, mind you) and our condominium and the city council just hire exterminators periodically, so basically they’re already half-dead or, at the very least, a bit slow when they enter… And yep, my house is weird in that it’s a first floor with a door at street level, and indeed even those that don’t, also open up to open-air, public walkways. Since I use a water tank-based vacuum cleaner anyway, I just have them sucked up the tube, Ghostbusters-style, and dump them at the nearest gutter for the council to deal with them. You may think this is disgusting and that we’re just overrun with roaches, but I get a rate of 1-5 incursions per year, and only in warm months, so I see it as a fun little IRL game. 🙃 Now, as for my parents’ basement, that’s a different matter…
@@MrDeathsrevenge I am, too, and sometimes they’re louder than me, and I have little music battles (such as insulting them with very specific songs). As long as it’s short and done before 10 pm, it’s no biggie. 😂 Now, in all seriousness, some neighbours are a bit… how shall I put it, unstable at our condominium meetings, because the distribution of needs and infrastructure (such as intercoms, lighting and elevators) isn’t very equitable but fees are relatively equal, but other than that, they’re fairly decent. My downstairs neighbours are a Chinese family that owns a grocery store across the street and at least one of them wakes up super early to go to the fresh distribution market, and those kind of ground me because I know I have to respect their right to rest and their very tight, early-bird schedule (of course, me being the ADHDer that I am, it’s not uncommon for me to be pulling an all-nighter - always using headphones, of course! - and going to bed at around the same time they’re waking up 😅)… The upstairs neighbour, OTOH, screams at his wife a lot, and she screams back (I don’t think theres actual domestic violence going on, but if I ever suspect it is, I will get the authorities involved), and him being an idiot conservative buffoon, yes, that’s the one I like to mess with because he messes with my Zen to begin with. As for the side neighbours, I did have a sometimes very noisy AirBnB rental on the right, but it has since been put in the long-term rental market and all my neighbours since have been fairly quiet. And yes, I know what you mean by being clumsy… I also hear when people drop stuff, but you’d be surprised at just how good our concrete slabs are are isolating footsteps and that kind of stuff. We hear mostly other loud noises, such as kitchen appliances or blinds opening and closing, which only happens at very specific times of the day. Heck, I can’t even say I can really hear other people flushing the toilet, FWIW 🤷♂️ (probably while dwelling in the bathroom myself, because those are obviously all stacked vertically, but not elsewhere in the flat if I keep the door shut).
@@itzahoax934 yeah I’m sure there have been repairs and restorations here and there to keep that crackling garbage from falling apart. F0H with your bullshit
@@itzahoax934 yeah and in all that time we're supposed to believe there were no repairs etc. in that crickety old house, just to keep in from falling apart... fuck outta here with that bullshit.
lol. I just happened to open my phone to change the station….. and I’ve done similar stuff on a couple homes in CA, that don’t have basements, but a nice clean crawl space makes any remodeling better, and if you do it right, ads a lot of benefits, and is a good plus on most sales. Some buyers don’t get stuff like this. lol.
