The Ultimate New Year’s Resolution: Get an E3 Crawlspace
Whether you love or hate the tradition of a New Year’s resolution, you’ve got to admit: The start of a new year is a great time to make some changes in your everyday life, and what could be more “everyday” than improving the quality, health, efficiency, and comfort of your home? Making a valuable home upgrade hits all of the classic New Year’s resolution notes — like living healthier, spending less money, and being more comfortable.
At E3 INNOVATE, we take crawlspaces very seriously. So you may be wondering, how can an E3 crawlspace help you meet your goals for 2020? Here are all the things you need to know about the steps to encapsulate a crawlspace, crawlspace encapsulation pros and cons (spoiler alert: they’re mostly pros), and what sets an E3 INNOVATE crawlspace apart here in Nashville.
The crawlspace Vapor Barrier: Controlling Moisture
Just because you don’t kick back in a La-Z-Boy down in your crawlspace doesn’t mean the humidity level and temperature down there are accounted for. Controlling moisture in a crawlspace is one of the first steps to a fully encapsulated and semi-conditioned crawlspace. This is done by installing a vapor barrier, or a seal between your crawlspace and the outside air.
At E3, we begin with a sealed laminate ground cover. This prevents moisture and soil gases from migrating upwards, including the unfortunately common and dangerous radon.
We receive a large volume of requests asking, “Will insulating our crawlspace help with high humidity in our home?” — and the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” We insulate and air seal the exterior walls of the crawlspace using spray foam insulation. This prevents further moisture infiltration through any holes in the construction of the home, as well as any unwanted outdoor temperatures.
Sealing & Insulating Ductwork
As a semi-conditioned space, the temperature and humidity of your crawlspace can affect anything that runs through it, or is adjacent to it. If you have ductwork and plumbing that runs underneath your home, they could be losing efficiency as they run through a space that is too cold or too hot.
Sealing and insulating your ductwork will increase the overall efficiency of your heating and cooling system. And given that your home temperatures will already be more stable because of your encapsulated crawlspace, this can add up to quite a reduction in heating and cooling costs!
The E3 Difference: Total crawlspace Control
Many contractors installing crawlspace insulation in Nashville would stop there. But our goal at E3 INNOVATE is to get your crawlspace to where you could practically live down there. Our team also addresses any air leakage points in the sub floor, making for the best crawlspace vapor barrier possible. Then, we create communication pathways between your living space and the crawlspace, so that you have complete control over your home’s ventilation, as well as your indoor air quality.
With an E3 crawlspace, you can expect:
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No more cold floors
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Reduced heating and cooling costs
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Greatly lowered risk of radon exposure
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Healthier indoor air quality
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Protection from pest infestations
This is the right way to encapsulate your crawlspace. So what are the negatives of crawlspace encapsulation? Well, when done correctly, we can’t even think of one. If you’ve been dealing with that musty crawlspace smell in your house, it could be a sign that the stale air underneath your feet is infiltrating your breathing air and threatening your home health and comfort.
So make 2020 the year you take control of your moisture problems, remove that musty smell, and take control of your crawlspace with Nashville’s whole-home experts at E3 INNOVATE.