What Is Crawlspace Encapsulation? Encapsulation is the process of sealing your crawlspace to keep out moisture. The goal isn’t to make the area airtight, but to block as many entry points for moisture as possible. Water vapor can seep through brick, concrete, and even rise up from the dirt. Encapsulation creates a barrier that keeps moisture from entering, helping protect the structure of your home. Why Encapsulate? The main goal is to take control of the crawlspace air so a dehumidifier can regulate humidity effectively. It’s not about keeping air out, it’s about managing [...]

The final part in this little series (for now at least) We’ve talked about some of the big ones already, like termite damage, dry rot and water damage, which are actually destroying the structure of the home and require repair. However, this only makes up about half of the structural repairs that we make.  So what other problems need to be solved?  Sometimes, people do things to the house that damage or modify the framing, which leads to needed repairs. These modifications are commonly made to make space for something or to pass something through [...]

Repairs that can be made from underneath the house.  Many of the most common crawlspace problems can be addressed from inside the crawlspace.  If you recall from our parts of the framing discussion, bands, girders, and joists can all be repaired from within the crawlspace. Assuming there is enough space in the crawlspace to move people, materials, tools, and temporary supports around, then work can be done from underneath. In most situations, that would be a 2-foot-tall or taller crawlspace.   The subfloor is one thing that cannot be replaced from underneath the house, nor can [...]

Part 1 Humidity Lets stick with the humidity issue we discussed last week and start there.  If the crawlspace is not supposed to be humid, what can be done about it?  The ideal solution for a crawlspace is to take things all the way to one extreme, either be as open as possible with as much air movement as possible or be as closed off as possible and mechanically control the moisture.  Option one: wide open.         Some of the best “crawlspaces” we see are on older farm homes that have never been [...]

All About Pressure-Treated Lumber Do you use pressure-treated lumber for a crawlspace? Crawlspaces are known for being high-moisture environments (a huge problem, see our post on crawlspace humidity). Pressure-treated lumber is built to withstand moisture and water contact. So that's what you should use for your crawlspace, right? Ignoring the fact that your crawlspace should not be high humidity, it likely is at least more so in the interior of your home. If you have had moisture damage in your crawlspace due to humidity, it makes sense that you would want to use pressure-treated lumber. [...]

And here you thought you were walking on sunshine. The joist is the last part of our series on house framing terms. There are both floor joists and ceiling joists. In the absence of flooring and drywall, they will look similar. Joists make up the bulk of the framing in the floors and ceilings. They transfer the load from the floors or ceiling to the walls, girders, and bands. Floor joists are what the subfloor and flooring attach to. They are what hold up the floors and what we walk around on. In the ceiling, [...]

In our quest to cover all the major framing members under the house, we have come to the girder. In wooden framing, the girders are larger framing members that support the joists. Masonry piers, steel columns, or the foundation wall will support the girder. The girder should have a sill between it and any supporting masonry. The girders support the weight of the flooring or walls and transfer it to the ground using piers/columns. A girder is usually made of several boards or an engineered product for longer spans or heavier loads. The girder works [...]