What Are the Different Types of Crawl Space & Insulation Methods?
Our professionals help you understand the different kinds of crawl spaces and how to go about insulating them in a complete way.
There are different types of crawl spaces that you can have in your home. This is the place in a house where all the heating & cooling ducts pass through. In fact, this is the place which needs to have the maximum amount of insulation. This is to keep your house interiors cool & pleasant during the hot Californian summer months. Unfortunately, this place lies neglected throughout the year, as there is no footprint or traffic. This is when different kinds of pests, rodens and critters build their nests here and leave their droppings that produce a foul smell which can be detrimental to the health of your family. Moreover, the rodents, mice, squirrels and other critters damage the insulation by peeing on it as well as nibbling on them. So, you need to go for a crawl space cleaning & decontamination, at least once in a year with the help of an expert insulation company like us that has years of experience in attic and crawl space related services. But, before that let’s look at the type of crawl spaces. The most common ones are: Vented and Unvented spaces.
Knowing the different types of crawl spaces and how to insulate them
Vented spaces: they have vents that increase air circulation in order to remove odor and moisture in the space. The vents are usually small in size (usually 6-8 inches long) and are often placed at the top of crawl spaces.
When insulating these spaces you should avoid insulating the crawl space walls. The best way of going about it is installing fiberglass battling between the joist bays. For ideal results you should avoid compressing the insulation.
The best material to use is fiberglass batting with Kraft-paper backing. When installing the material you should ensure that the paper side goes towards the space that is warmer in winter. The Kraft paper acts as a moisture barrier for your home.
Unvented crawl spaces: they lack vents and due to this you should insulate the walls instead of the joist bays. When insulating the space you should cover the walls from the sill plate up to the floor.
If you are using fiberglass insulation you should run it about 6 inches onto the crawl space floor. You should also remember to cut pieces of insulation so that they are large enough to fit along the rim joist.
For ideal results you should go for unfaced fiberglass batting. You should avoid installing Kraft-paper-backed insulation against walls as the paper might trap moisture thus resulting in growth of mold.
Regardless of the size of the crawl space that you want to insulate, you should ensure that the particular place is also properly cleaned, sanitized and maintained by our Attic Wizard professionals that have years of project experience. This is how you can enhance the longevity of the insulation material present in the crawl space.