Crawl Spaces – Installing a Vapor Barrier
Crawl Spaces can be nasty, smelly, humid areas that can easily allow Molds to get established, attract bugs and sometimes 'critters'. One major problem area is that in most regions of the Country, a bare dirt floor will release humidity, which your home then relies on the venting to clear away. A properly installed vapor barrier is the first step in controlling excessive humidity. Here's how to DIY!
First, pour yourself a tall glass of ice water. Trust me, you'll need it.
1 Measure up the first floor of your home - you may already know this, you can find it on your County's GIS site, or it might be in your paperwork from when you purchased the home.
2 Visit your local home improvement store and purchase enough vapor barrier to cover your square footage. You'll want at least a 6 mil (thousandth of an inch) poly made with polyethylene. These hold up better in contact with the ground and don't off gas chemicals or smells. You'll also want to grab Landscape Staples, which look like cut wire clothes hangars in the shape of a "U".
3 Go through your crawl space removing all debris, leaves, trash, and whatever else may have been left behind by workers or gotten in other ways. You don't need to prep the floor until it's smooth, but getting old insulation off the floor, old duct work, or carpentry reminants is necessary. Of special note is to ensure you get up all leaves, twigs, sawdust, acorns, etc.! The Vapor Barrier serves to stop humidity, allowing it to condense. Any organics like those will quickly get wet and begin molding and can cause health issues and/or give off odors
4 Now, begin rolling out your plastic, starting at one edge and working your way long-ways across your home. You are aiming for wall-to-wall plastic! Overlap the sections of plastic approximately 1 foot, trim the plastic so that a couple of inches rests on the wall and interior piers, and pin the whole thing down with your landscape staples
5 Sit back with a glass of water and enjoy a job well done!
Before you get started, you'll also want too be sure you have gloves, a hat, knee pads, and a mask to cover your nose.
While it's a lot of work, it's easily accomplished by a homeowner willing to put in some effort and can help make a dramatic difference in your crawl space and home!
First, pour yourself a tall glass of ice water. Trust me, you'll need it.
1 Measure up the first floor of your home - you may already know this, you can find it on your County's GIS site, or it might be in your paperwork from when you purchased the home.
2 Visit your local home improvement store and purchase enough vapor barrier to cover your square footage. You'll want at least a 6 mil (thousandth of an inch) poly made with polyethylene. These hold up better in contact with the ground and don't off gas chemicals or smells. You'll also want to grab Landscape Staples, which look like cut wire clothes hangars in the shape of a "U".
3 Go through your crawl space removing all debris, leaves, trash, and whatever else may have been left behind by workers or gotten in other ways. You don't need to prep the floor until it's smooth, but getting old insulation off the floor, old duct work, or carpentry reminants is necessary. Of special note is to ensure you get up all leaves, twigs, sawdust, acorns, etc.! The Vapor Barrier serves to stop humidity, allowing it to condense. Any organics like those will quickly get wet and begin molding and can cause health issues and/or give off odors
4 Now, begin rolling out your plastic, starting at one edge and working your way long-ways across your home. You are aiming for wall-to-wall plastic! Overlap the sections of plastic approximately 1 foot, trim the plastic so that a couple of inches rests on the wall and interior piers, and pin the whole thing down with your landscape staples
5 Sit back with a glass of water and enjoy a job well done!
Before you get started, you'll also want too be sure you have gloves, a hat, knee pads, and a mask to cover your nose.
While it's a lot of work, it's easily accomplished by a homeowner willing to put in some effort and can help make a dramatic difference in your crawl space and home!
Source...