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Crawl Space Insulation, Yes or No? – Myth #3

In this crawl space myth-busting video, we're going to talk about

"you don't insulation in your crawl space when you encapsulate it."

Is Crawl Space Insulation Necessary?

Okay, again, crawl space encapsulation companies that don't really know what they're doing tell homeowners that you do not need insulation in a crawl space. Now, for the purpose of this video, I'm not going to talk about what type of insulation you need, but every crawl space should be properly insulated.

Now, you may decide to put fiberglass insulation up in the floor joists, or you may decide to insulate the walls. That's irrelevant. The point is is that you need insulation in the crawl space. Every building code out there requires crawl space insulation. It is the actually the second most important place in your home to insulate other than the attic if you have a crawl space. If you have a basement, the basement would be the second most important place to insulate in your home other than the attic.

Will Vapor Barrier Insulate My Crawl Space?

We're going to call that a big myth that you don't need crawl space insulation. If your crawl space contractor is telling you that the crawl space plastic is going to insulate the crawl space or that you don't need insulation at all, that's a big myth.

Insulating a Vented Crawl Space

If you would like to keep your crawl space vented because you live in a low humidity environment we recommend insulating the crawl space floor with fiberglass or rock-wool mixed with spray foam for air sealing. This will give you the thermal barrier between the crawl space and your living space as well as help keep the air from getting from the crawl space into the living space. Remember up to 50% of the crawl space air can transfer into the living space.

About Michael Church

Michael Church has been involved with indoor air quality since 2005 and feels the unhealthy crawl space is one of the major problems causing poor indoor air quality.

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