Sealing a Problematic Crawl Space in Muskegon, Mi
Challenge
"Our crawl space isn't sealed. Not even close."
Well, at least our customers had an idea of the root of the problem. Living close to the lake, they experienced regular winds that traveled through the not-even-close-to-sealed crawl space and made the floors extremely cold. With a new baby in the house, comfort was their number one priority, so they called us to take on the task.
This large crawl space was not only susceptible to wind gusts, but also water - there were mold problems on the beams and mushrooms growing in it. Mushrooms!
Solution
The biggest issue at hand was the fact that this was a massive crawl space. No wonder their floors were cold - they had 10 vents and a poorly sealed door on the crawl space. So our first point of order was to install vent covers, as a crawl space's biggest enemy is an unsealed vent. Ok, maybe the biggest enemy is water, but one of the ways it gets there is through unsealed vents.
After installing the vent covers and a new airtight Everlast door, we went to work inside of the crawl space. There were water problems - that close to a lake, crawl spaces almost always have water problems - so we first installed two SmartSump pumps to cover the breadth of the crawl space, and outfitted the discharge lines with LawnScape outlets and IceGuard caps so the water can reliably discharge far away from the house.
With a reliable water removal system installed, we went to work encapsulating the crawl space. The CleanSpace vapor barrier system will not only protect the crawl space from any ambient moisture and preserve its structural integrity, it's also the first step in insulating the crawl space from the wind. Which means the home above the space will also be protected from the wind.
Once the CleanSpace was installed, we upped the ante on insulation by installing SilverGlo insulation panels. These are rigid panels that are water-resistant and inorganic - which means mold can't eat them - and their reflective surface retains heat in the crawl space to further improve the temperature in the home. No more cold floors.
We installed over 2000 feet of CleanSpace vapor barrier with drainage matting and SilverGlo paneling by the time we were finished, and the project took multiple days to complete, but at the end our customers had a crawl space free from water and wind, and a more comfortable home.
