Crawl space encapsulation
Crawl space encapsulation in Louisville, KY
Seal the space under your house off from the ground: heavy liner across the floor and up the walls, sealed vents and piers, and a dehumidifier that keeps the air dry. Installed by our own trained crew and warranted for life.
Signs you need it
Your crawl space is telling you something
Musty smell, sticky air upstairs
A large share of the air in your living space rises from the crawl space. If it is damp down there, you are breathing it.
Condensation and wet insulation
Louisville summers push warm, wet air through open vents onto cool ductwork and wood. It drips, and insulation soaks it up.
Mold on joists or the subfloor
Fuzzy white, green or black growth on the wood means humidity has been above 60 percent for a long time.
Cupping hardwood, sagging floors
Wood floors take on moisture from below and cup. Long enough, and joists soften and floors dip.
What we do
A sealed, conditioned space instead of a damp cave
Encapsulation turns the crawl space into part of the house instead of part of the outdoors. We clean the space out, treat any mold, and lay a heavy reinforced vapor barrier across the entire floor, run it up the foundation walls and seal it to the piers and the walls. Vents get sealed so humid summer air stays out. A commercial-grade dehumidifier, sized to the space and plumbed to drain, holds the humidity below the level mold needs (the humidity guide explains the numbers).
If the space takes on water, we add drainage and a sump before the liner goes down, because a liner over standing water is a pond with a lid. If insulation is ruined, it comes out and new insulation goes in. That is the difference between an encapsulation and a sheet of plastic on the dirt.
- Reinforced liner, seams taped and sealed, run up the walls and around piers
- Vents sealed, foundation walls treated, dehumidifier sized to the cubic feet
- Drainage and sump first when there is water; mold treated first when there is mold
- Lifetime transferable warranty on our work
See the work
Inside a finished crawl space
Footage from a Watertight job. Short and silent, so it plays anywhere.
How the job goes
Encapsulation usually takes one to three days
Inspect and measure
A technician crawls the whole space, photographs the conditions, measures it and checks for water, mold and damaged wood.
Clean out and treat
Debris, old plastic and soaked insulation come out. Mold is treated. Any drainage goes in now.
Liner, walls, vents
The reinforced liner goes down and up the walls, seams sealed, piers wrapped, vents closed. New insulation where it belongs.
Dehumidifier and handover
The dehumidifier is set, drained and tested. You get photos of the finished space and the warranty in writing.
Before and after
Two Louisville crawl spaces, before and after
Each pair is one job, photographed before and after. Drag the line.
On the job
From the crew's own photos
Real Watertight jobs. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
From the jobsite
Crawl space encapsulation, as the crew filmed it
Three short clips from Watertight encapsulation jobs, 6 to 12 seconds each. Tap one to watch; each clip plays on into the next. Silent, so they play anywhere.
White liner across a crawl space floor
Liner wrapped around old brick piers
Two discharge lines over a lined crawl space sump
What it costs
Price your crawl space encapsulation in a minute
A few questions give a planning range from the same calculator as the cost guide. See every line, or book a free inspection with your numbers attached.
Why Watertight
Crawl space work is the core of what we do
Crawl spaces are the core of the business. We encapsulate them with our own trained crew, in protective gear, with photos of every stage, and we fix the water and mold first instead of sealing them in.
- Rated 5.0 from 331 Google reviews
- IICRC certified for the mold that usually comes with it
- We beat any reputable company's price on the same scope
4 weeks agoThis company Water Tight did a great job, they removed all of my insulation that was moisture soaked. Installed a new crawl space dehumidifier and treated for any existing mold problems. They added some steel shims to floor supports. They were very…
a month agoThese guys are great. We just had a total encapsulation of our crawlspace. We had standing water underneath our house and it was causing problems. WaterTight Waterproofing came in and encapsulated everything. They put in a drain field and installed a…
4 weeks agoI would highly recommend Watertight Waterproofing. From the time the owner (Zack) gave me an estimate and explained all they were going to do to my crawl space, to completion, everything went flawless. The crews were great, very professional. Thanks again…
Questions
Crawl space encapsulation: what people ask
Still have a question? Call the office, Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
How much does crawl space encapsulation cost in Louisville?
The price is driven by square footage, access, how wet the space is and whether mold or repairs come first. Every job is priced in writing after a free inspection, and the cost guide has typical Louisville ranges and a calculator for planning.
Is encapsulation worth it?
For a Louisville house with a damp crawl space, yes. It stops the moisture that rots wood, feeds mold and warps floors, it cuts humidity upstairs, and it usually lowers heating and cooling costs because you are no longer conditioning outdoor air that leaks up through the floor.
Do I still need a dehumidifier if the space is sealed?
Yes. Sealing stops new moisture coming in; the dehumidifier deals with what is already in the air and what migrates through the concrete. Without one, a sealed space can still sit above 60 percent humidity.
What about the vents? I was told crawl spaces need to breathe.
That advice comes from a time before vapor barriers and dehumidifiers. In our climate, open vents bring in humid air in summer and freezing air in winter. A sealed, dehumidified crawl space is the approach building science supports and the one we warranty.
Can you encapsulate if there is standing water?
Not until the water is dealt with. We install drainage and a sump first, then encapsulate. Sealing a liner over water is how mold problems get created.
Projects
Real jobs, before and after
Each pair is one Watertight job, photographed before and after. Nothing staged, nothing stock.
A crawl space drain trench, dug then graveled
The drainage that goes in before any liner: a trench with drain pipe along the wall, then filled with clean gravel.
Read the story
A cluttered crawl space, cleared and lined
A flexible duct lying on old sheeting and debris, then lifted clear over a clean liner across the floor.
Read the story
A painted, stained block wall, lined in white
A block wall with old white paint and dark staining, lined white below cabinets that stayed in place.
Read the storyWhere we do this work
Crawl space encapsulation across Louisville and Kentuckiana
Every area has its own page on the houses and ground in that part of town.
Free estimate
Encapsulation: get a written price
Tell us what you are seeing. A technician calls back during business hours and books a time to look. No cost, no obligation.
- Photos and a plain explanation of the cause
- Written scope and price
- Our own crew, not a subcontractor
- We beat any reputable company's price on the same scope
