Insulating a North Chesterfield, VA Crawl Space

Before: The fiberglass insulation in this crawl space is beginning to fall out of the floor joists, suggesting that there is an excessive amount of water being absorbed by the insulation, making it too heavy to stay in place. Fiberglass acts as a sponge and will pull in moisture from the surrounding air, but the water droplets will pull apart the fibers, and gravity will pull it down in heavy chunks. If the fiberglass has paper-backing, there is a good chance that mold growth will occur, for paper-backed insulation is considered “mold candy” for how easy it is for mold to thrive on it.

After: The crawl space walls have been insulated using Foamax foam board pieces, which are 1½ inches thick, and act as an air barrier and vapor retarder against outside influence. The open vents lining these foundation walls have also been covered on the inside using precisely cut foam board pieces and sealed with can foam. With the walls protected with Foamax, and the dirt floor covered with a 20-mil CleanSpace vapor barrier, outside moisture, and air will find it difficult to penetrate the underbelly of this home.