Interested in getting my crawlspace encapsulated and am looking for recommendations on someone to do the job. I think it is somewhere between 500-800sqft but I am not entirely sure of the exact size. I don’t really know the typical cost of an encapsulation so if anyone can tell me how much they paid, size of your crawlspace, the and how long ago it was done, I appreciate it to get a reference point. I am hoping not to spend a small fortune if possible.
Even if you hire a company, you really should educate yourself on what it should entail. R/Buildingsciense is a good resource here on Reddit. Crawl space ninja has a bunch of YouTube videos.
My experience as a homeowner: it started that I was going to put a new vapor barrier down. It turned into a dehumidifier, removing nasty fiberglass insulation, sealing off all air intrusion, a trench and sump pump, and radon mitigation. All that was needed in my situation. I am still in the process of finishing, but I am close. The difference has been very noticeable in the humidity levels of my house already. I will probably spend about 3k for all my supplies. I can’t imagine what I have saved on labor doing it myself. From what I read all these companies that offer encapsulation all have different ideas of what you need. That is why I say you should educate yourself on different scenarios that you might run into. Good luck.
Second on the diy approach. It just took me a weekend for 1500sqft. For me I just needed to lay the vapor barrier and install a dehumidifier. That all was not even 1k. I didn't need a trench/sump in my case or remove my insulation. I am also watching my radon levels but it's been in the green with just the occasional spike.
I bought an air thing and monitored it for a month. It was 3 something so close enough that I wanted to take care of it. Since I had just dug a 40’trench (water was coming under my foundation along one wall) it was easy enough to add the radon system. I of course had a perorated pipe in the trench. I added one going across my crawl space and tee’ed it in. It was easy enough to buy a decent sump basin and lid. I sealed it, ran PVC out my rim joist and up over my roof. I bought a Festa “speed control” fan that I really like. Hope that helps.
Thanks - we moved in last september and had a 2.1 reading during the inspection period and ai have had an airthings monitor in our living room for a year with a long term average right around 1. I have heard that when you encapsulate the number will go up, so I am thinking when I do that I probably want to proactively do a radon system. Currently the crawl has a bare bones plastic sheet over 90% of the ground
I think with a year average of 1 you are good. It’s a good question if sealing up the space does make your radon numbers go up?
Mine was high 3’s. In my living room. I wish I would have monitored before I started working to see if what I did made it worse? I’m thinking the trench I dug sure didn’t help..but it was needed. I haven’t put the vapor barrier down yet and my numbers are now under 1 with my fan set at half speed. So it’s working so far. I think perforated pipe,under your vapor barrier would work just fine, but I’m no expert.
Shamrock did ours. About 900 sq ft, paid about $7500, full encapsulation. Happy with the results and communication, zero complaints. Best quote out of four we got. Hurts to do it but I would do it again.
Thank you! I recently bought an oldish house and with the number of quotes I’ve had to get for various things, anything under 10k is still kinda painful, but feels almost reasonable at this point.
I recommend Shamrock to all of my clients (I'm a Realtor) and have for 20+ years. I do NOT recommend anybody you see advertising on TV - they've most likely been bought by PE and are thus most likely to charge significantly more.
I highly recommend Healthy Home Restoration. No hard sell, just education and good work. The price was very reasonable in comparison to the other 4 quotes I got.
Same here. We had Healthy Home do our first house. I don’t remember the price specifics, but they were the best priced quote and great service. We liked them enough to have them out a few years later to give our ventilation system a HEPA cleaning too.
Live green for sure. I got 4 quotes. So many people wanted to do so much extra stuff and I even had a company try to shame me into buying their overpriced system “for my children”. Live green never pressured me and did an amazing job.
Can vouch for Jeremy and his team and EcoCrawls. Great price for full encap of about 1200 sq ft. His crew pulled out an old water heater that was left down there as well.
Crawlspace Renovations LLC was excellent. The cheapest option and we are so happy with what they did. Came recommended by a neighbor who had their crawlspace fully encapsulated. We did a partial.
I recently did this - I literally called 11 companies in the area and got quotes. Went with Triangle Radiant Barrier - was the best price according to the quality of materials used. Also, you can pick and choose which upgrades you want, other companies don't give that choice. Educate yourself like others said on crawlspace encapsulation and you can see which upgrades to get
Here is our quote from last year. (2 pics). They gave us two options 1) sealed 2) encapsulated.
One of the options was to add a vent from the currently installed HVAC ducts that run through the crawlspace to introduce conditioned air to the space. An upgrade from this is installing a dehumidifier in the space.
Highly recommend Crawlspaces & Beyond. They’ve done many jobs for me over the years including an encapsulation most recently. Fair pricing, no-nonsense approach.
For a 500-800sqft space it shouldn't be more than 2-2.5k. unless you're adding a commercial dehumidifier then add about 1500, since they're marking it up. But it's cheaper to just cut a louver opening in your HVAC if your ducts are in the crawl ( 150 job max).
Not Michael & Son! I worked in their restoration department.
Work slow? Oh, this area is still reading wet and you'll need 3 more days with 6 fans, 2 dehus and an air scrubber. Too busy or dont feel like working? Stab something dry, click hold on the moisture meter, stab the affected area. Now there are pictures on record with your insurance of the wet areas being dry and no one is held accountable for the black mold that shows up down the line. Thats if you're ever made aware of its presence, you can never know what's going on under floors or in walls without checking.
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u/Tar-really 1d ago
Even if you hire a company, you really should educate yourself on what it should entail. R/Buildingsciense is a good resource here on Reddit. Crawl space ninja has a bunch of YouTube videos.
My experience as a homeowner: it started that I was going to put a new vapor barrier down. It turned into a dehumidifier, removing nasty fiberglass insulation, sealing off all air intrusion, a trench and sump pump, and radon mitigation. All that was needed in my situation. I am still in the process of finishing, but I am close. The difference has been very noticeable in the humidity levels of my house already. I will probably spend about 3k for all my supplies. I can’t imagine what I have saved on labor doing it myself. From what I read all these companies that offer encapsulation all have different ideas of what you need. That is why I say you should educate yourself on different scenarios that you might run into. Good luck.