Sealed system
Hampton Roads, VA
Encapsulation for Crawl Spaces That Refuse to Dry
A sealed liner system with controlled dehumidification takes the tide, the water table, and the summer humidity out of your floor system's life.
Some crawl spaces cannot be fixed with a sheet of plastic, and in this region we know exactly where they live.
Three kinds of ground, one recurring phone call
- Tidal neighborhoods
- Poquoson and Norfolk, where the river decides the water table. Poquoson service area .
- Swamp-margin blocks
- Chesapeake and Suffolk, on ground that was never really dry. Chesapeake service area .
- Wooded, low-lying lots
- Everywhere in between, where shade keeps the ground from ever drying out.
When the ground under a home is wet most of the year, the winning move is to stop negotiating with it: seal the space, condition the air, and let the framing live in a controlled environment.
Grade level
Below here the system gets built in a fixed order, because doing step four before step one is how a sealed crawl space becomes a sealed problem.
Install order
What a full encapsulation includes
- 01 So nothing gets locked in alive
Treat the framing before anything is sealed
Fungus treatment of the framing comes first. Sealing a space with active growth in it just gives the growth a quieter room.
- 02 Seams sealed, edges fastened
Liner across the ground and up the walls
A heavy-duty reinforced liner covers the ground and runs up the foundation walls, with the seams sealed and the edges fastened rather than tucked and hoped for.
- 03 Humid outside air stays outside
Seal the foundation vents
Vents get sealed, because in this climate a vent is a delivery system for the humidity you are trying to keep out.
- 04 Sized to the space, not to a catalogue
Condition the air
A properly sized crawl space dehumidifier holds the space at a stable humidity, which is what lets the framing live in a controlled environment instead of a seasonal one.
- 05 A sealed space should stay sealed
Rodent-resistant detailing
The detailing is done so the system stays closed. A liner with a hole chewed through it is a very expensive tarp.
- 06 The annual termite inspection still happens
Preserve inspection access and sight lines
Access and visibility at the critical wood lines are designed in, so the sealed system and your annual termite inspection work together instead of hiding problems behind plastic.
Verified result
The same space, after. Lit, dry, sealed, and still fully inspectable.
1 Liner up the walls, seams sealed 2 Joists and subfloor stay in view 3 Dehumidifier, sized to the space 4 Ground liner, full coverage - 1 Liner up the walls, seams sealed
- 2 Joists and subfloor stay in view
- 3 Dehumidifier, sized to the space
- 4 Ground liner, full coverage
- Liner
- Reinforced, seams sealed, edges fastened
- Vents
- Sealed
- Humidity
- Held stable by dehumidifier
- Inspection access
- Preserved
What owners actually notice, upstairs
- Summer floors
- They stop feeling clammy underfoot.
- The hallway smell
- The musty smell goes away, because up to half of the air in a crawl space home drifts up from below.
- Hardwoods
- They stop cupping seasonally.
- The annual inspection
- It turns pleasantly boring, which is what a decade of guarantee-backed protection is supposed to feel like.
Encapsulation is a real investment, and we treat the recommendation with respect. When a standard moisture control package will genuinely hold your space, that is what we will tell you to buy.
Where the moisture already took framing, the same company replaces it. The install crew and the carpentry crew answer to the same dispatcher, which is the entire reason nothing gets sealed over.
Before you commit
Encapsulation questions
Encapsulation or just a new vapor barrier: how do I know which I need?
It comes down to how much water your crawl space fights. A dry-ish space with ground moisture does well with a proper vapor barrier. A space with standing water seasons, chronic condensation, or wood readings that stay high year round usually needs the sealed system. We measure first and recommend from the readings, and plenty of customers hear the cheaper answer.
Does an encapsulated crawl space still get termite inspections?
Yes, and we plan for it. Our installations preserve inspection access and visibility at the critical wood lines, so the sealed system and your annual termite inspection work together instead of hiding problems behind plastic.
What maintenance does the system need?
Very little: the dehumidifier needs a periodic filter check and the liner should be scanned during your annual inspection for punctures or settling. The system is boring by design. Boring is the goal.
Continue the file
Crawl Space Encapsulation
Stop fighting the water table. Seal the crawl space.
Tell us what you are seeing and we will confirm a time window. Inspections are free when you suspect a problem.
757-583-4444Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and all of Hampton Roads.