Crawl Space Encapsulation

Our goal is to be proactive, not reactive. For this reason, Advanced Ventilation Solutions offers thorough crawlspace and basement consultations. We will send one of our experienced team members out to take a look to see if your home or business is having any crawlspace or basement moisture problems.

Our team members have the knowledge, experience, and equipment it takes to identify if you are experiencing moisture issues, as well as problem-solving techniques to ensure these issues are resolved. Don’t hesitate, call today for your home or business inspection!

Remember, it’s not a mold problem you are experiencing; it is a moisture problem that is causing mold!

Crawl space encapsulation is the process where your crawl space is completely sealed off using a white type of plastic. By sealing off a crawl space, moisture, termites, and other animals have a tough time getting into the crawl space, which means less mold and structural damage.

• Stop mold from growing
• Stop structural damage from occurring
• Save money by reducing energy bills
• Less strain on your heating and A/C unit
• Keep hardwood floors from cupping or buckling
• Lower the chances for termite or pest infestation
• Increase indoor air quality
• Increase the value of your biggest asset!

Wanting to completely seal off your crawl space after seeing all that you can benefit from? We’ve got you covered. We offer crawl space encapsulation. to our customers that want to completely encapsulate the area below their home or business. By encapsulating the area below your home or business you are able to keep moisture out. In addition, you also keep out bugs such as cockroaches, spiders, and termites. By encapsulating the crawl space you can avoid forking out money to repair structural damages caused by moisture.

1. We complete a comprehensive home examination to find out why and where the issues, if any, are coming from.
2. We then remove any standing water issues and install a perimeter drainage system to a sump pump. This solves any water intrusion problems that may be occurring.
3. The start of the encapsulation begins with mechanically fastening 2.5” foam board insulation to the foundation walls. Then we use this same foam board to permanently seal your foundation vents from the inside. Sealing these vents is critical to the overall functionality of this system. This stops the hot, moist outside air from coming in and creating condensation on all of the cool surfaces inside the crawl space. Also, this particular foam board is not just your average foam board from Lowes. It is specifically made for crawl spaces by having a built-in, 6 mil moisture barrier and is chemically treated to resist termites.
4. When finished with all of the insulation board, we will go back over the top of it with a 6 mil (for a total of 12 mil) moisture barrier and wrap the walls. This completely seals the walls of your crawl space.
5. We then wrap your piers with a reinforced 12 mil polyethylene moisture barrier. Starting from the ground we will wrap the piers all the way to the top. Then we will mechanically fasten the liner to the pier. We also tape the top and the seam to ensure that it is fully sealed.
6. Next, we will install a 12 mil reinforced moisture barrier covering the entire crawl space floor. This moisture barrier will overlap (8”-12”) and be sealed to the moisture barrier that is on the walls and piers using a 4” waterproof tape.

Now, we progress to treating the remaining moisture that is in the crawl space from any mechanical appliances.

We will install an industry-leading, Aprilaire or Santa-Fe commercial dehumidifier. This unit will initially run for a few weeks until it can remove all the moisture from the subfloor, floor joist, etc. that is present in the crawl space. After the first few weeks, this unit will not have to run near as much. This is because of the fully sealed crawl space that only cutting on every so often as it deems necessary. These Aprilaire and Santa Fe dehumidifiers are energy star rated. They have a built-in humidistat (turning itself on and off automatically). The condensation drain line will remove the water from your crawl space without the homeowner having to empty any buckets. These units also have a specially built filter. These are built to help filter the air of mold spores and dust. This will increase the indoor air quality inside the home.

The final step is to monitor the crawl space. By monitoring, we do not mean coming back once a year to assess your home. It only takes days for mold to grow. For this reason, we will install a 24/7/365 WIFI monitoring system. This system will constantly monitor the humidity, temperature, dew point, and any standing water that may occur in the crawl space. The monitoring system will automatically send us alerts should any of the moisture levels get above the ideal range. It can tell us many things about the crawl space, including plumbing leaks, equipment failure, water intrusion, and more.

Here at Advanced Vent Solutions, we service many areas in North Carolina. Some of the bigger cities we service are Gastonia, Mooresville, Lincolnton, Hickory, Charlotte, Belmont, Lake Norman, and many other locations. If you are located in North Carolina, give us a call to see what we can do for you.

Are you in need of moisture or mold work but can’t find anyone to guarantee their work? Looking for a warranty but just can’t find a company that offers one? We’ve got you! AVS is an authorized dealer of the Enviroguard Continuous Protection Warranty.

The Enviroguard Continuous Protection Warranty is an annually renewable and transferrable damage repair warranty that is insurance-backed by an A+ top-rated environmental underwriter. It carries a $100,000 damage repair limit, which includes all demolition, remediation, restoration, and build-back cost, should the property develop visible mold formation on the permanent surfaces of the property.

How is such a strong warranty possible? Every year, your Enviroguard Certified Inspector conducts a 175 point inspection from the outside to the inside of your property. They take into consideration everything from landscape grade, gutters, and downspouts, to the condensing pipes and ductwork, to the way moisture releases from the ground, and thermal bridging in the attic affects structural moisture content. If conducive conditions exist, we’ll walk you through exactly how they can be corrected. If they don’t exist, you’ll move straight into the warranty. It’s that easy.