Crawl Space Repair Photo Album: Protect Against Moisture Damage with Vapor Barriers - West Linn, OR

The best way to seal your crawl space and protect against moisture damage is with vapor barriers. This homeowner discovered water was intruding into their crawl space and evaporating into the air. This causes moisture which is absorbed into the fiberglass insulation in the crawl space and into the wooden posts supporting your home. To solve this issue, the homeowners moved forward with our Pipe Pump Plastic system. First, we needed to remove all the insulation that had absorbed the moisture from the air and began to sag from the sub-floor. We also removed the previous vapor barrier because water had caused it to crumple and expose the dirt beneath the home. Then, we needed to install a drainage system. This involves digging a trench along the interior perimeter of the crawl space and installing a perforated pipe. The pipe collects any water that tries to seep into the crawl space and sends it to a SuperSump Plus sump pump. The sump pump connects to the pipe and takes that collected water and safely pushes it out of the crawl space and away from the homes foundation. This can help to control moisture because then there is no water in the crawl space to evaporate into the air. After the drainage system is installed, this is when we install a new 6 mil vapor barrier. This is a plastic liner that seals the dirt from the crawl space and protects against water. We overlap each seam of the liner to ensure water can't seep over top. It is installed along the base, up the foundation walls, and between the footing and wooden posts to isolate and protect. By installing it up the foundation walls, it helps guide water to run down below to the drainage system and be sent out. While this system isn't a permanent solution like an encapsulation would be, it helps offer the homeowner effective results in protecting from moisture on a budget.