Damp, musty air coming up from under the house? We cover the crawl space dirt with sealed plastic so ground moisture stays down there.
At Professional Chico Spray Foam Insulation, vapor barrier installation in Chico means covering the dirt floor of your crawl space with polyethylene sheeting, a heavy plastic, and sealing it at the walls and piers so ground moisture and soil gases stay out of the space under your house.
What sits in the crawl space doesn't stay there. Moisture and soil gases can get pulled up into your rooms through cracks in and around the subfloor, the wood deck your floors are built on. A sealed sheet over the ground keeps them from rising off the dirt in the first place, and it's usually the first thing I look at when someone calls about a damp crawl space.
The price moves with the size of the crawl space, how tight it is to crawl through, how many piers the plastic has to wrap and how much has to be cleared out first. The schedule turns on whether water problems in the yard get fixed before we start, and on a permit if the job needs one, which we handle. My estimate spells out the price and anything that has to be fixed first.
Putting plastic on the ground is the easy part. These three points decide whether the barrier does its job, and they're worth asking any installer about before you pick one.
In a vented crawl space, most of the moisture is plain water, from a yard that slopes toward the house, missing drains along the foundation or sprinklers soaking the walls. Plastic over that just traps a puddle, so a sound moisture plan looks at the grading, drains and watering along with the ground cover.
The plastic should cover the whole floor, or as close as you can reasonably get, and run up the walls, piers and footings. When you compare quotes, ask each installer how they'll reach the far corners and tight spots, because gaps at the edges are where moisture gets back in.
Some owners want the vents sealed and the crawl space closed up. If a natural draft water heater or furnace sits down there, one that relies on rising warm air to carry its fumes out, a combustion safety test follows to check that fumes aren't spilling back, so plan for it in the schedule.
From the first call to the final walk-through, here's who does what. I'm the one you'll see first, and I'm also the one who checks the work at the end.
Call (530) 399-1513 or send us a message through the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time for me to come out and see the crawl space.
I go under the house to check the ground, walls and piers, then walk the yard for grading, drains and sprinklers. You get a written estimate with the price and anything that needs fixing before plastic goes down.
Once the crawl space is cleared, our crew lead and installers lay and seal the plastic. If a permit is needed, a simple job can sometimes get one on the first visit to the city's counter, but most wait on plan review.
I go under and check the work before we call it finished. Then we walk you through what we did, including where the seams and edges are sealed and what to keep an eye on.
I start with the water, not the plastic. Before anything goes down, I look at what's putting water under the house, like the slope of the yard, the drains or a sprinkler aimed at the foundation, because covering a wet problem only hides it. If the fix belongs to a landscaper or a drainage contractor, I'll tell you so and wait for them rather than install over it.
Then our crew lays the plastic edge to edge across the dirt, laps it up the walls and around every pier, and seals it there so it works as one continuous sheet. Seams and edges are where these jobs usually fail, so that's where we spend our time instead of rushing to the next section.
The plastic only handles what comes up from the ground. Warm air leaking out the top of a house gets replaced from below, so attic air sealing often pairs well with it. If you're adding retrofit insulation to an older house, I'd rather get the crawl space dry first, so the new insulation isn't sitting over damp ground.
If someone crawls in to service the furnace or water heater, we can lay a vinyl runner or an extra layer of plastic along that route. It takes the foot traffic so the main sheet doesn't get torn.
Some owners cover the sealed plastic with a concrete slab. It's a bigger job than plastic alone, and I'll tell you on site whether your crawl space calls for it or whether plastic will do.
We reply to every call and message within 1 business day to set a time. I come out, look over your crawl space and the yard around it, and write up a free estimate on site. There's no obligation, so you can take it and think it over.
(530) 399-1513Chico's city code requires a permit to construct, install, repair, alter or improve any building or structure within the city, and the city's Building Division issues those permits. Questions about your own project go to the Building Division. If your job needs a permit, we handle the application and inspection, and if your house sits outside the city, we'll tell you which county office covers your address.
We're based in Chico and work in the cities around it, from Durham to Oroville. Under older houses here we often find bare dirt, old plastic that's torn or only covers part of the floor, and a furnace or ductwork someone still has to reach. If you don't see your city on our list, give us a call and ask.
I grew up on a farm where you fixed things once and fixed them right, and I learned insulation on other contractors' crews before starting this business in Chico in 2020. I'm the one who comes out and writes your estimate, so the person telling you what your crawl space needs is the same person who checks the crew's work.
We're licensed and insured. We stand behind the work with one promise, satisfaction guaranteed on every job. We're best known for careful attic and crawl space work where nothing gets skipped, and that's how we treat a ground cover too. When you're ready, call (530) 399-1513 or send us a message.
Closing the gaps up top cuts down on the air your house pulls up from the crawl space.
Adding insulation to the older house you already live in goes better once the ground below is covered.
Our crew lays vapor barriers under houses in Chico and the cities around it. Pick your city below to see how we work there.
Yes, a plastic ground cover should go in whether the crawl space is vented or sealed, laid as one continuous sheet sealed to the walls and piers. Vents move air through the space, but they don't stop moisture rising off the dirt, so the plastic does a different job.
I won't guess at a price before I've seen the crawl space. Plastic alone is the least expensive way to do it. A walking path to the furnace adds material, a concrete cover is a much bigger job, and any drainage fixes another trade makes come on top. The estimate gives you the number for your house.
Clear out anything stored in the crawl space before the crew arrives, because the plastic has to cover the ground completely. Boxes, old lumber and debris all have to come out, and the same goes if we're repairing plastic that's already down there. If something's too heavy to move, tell me at the estimate.
I'll tell you once I've seen the crawl space, because size and how tight it is set the pace. The start date can move if drainage needs fixing first, the city has to review a permit, or a gas appliance needs a safety test after vents are sealed. There's no spray or curing with plastic, so most people stay home while we work.
In most cases, a licensed contractor. To apply for a Chico permit online the first time, a contractor needs a California State Contractor's License number and a City of Chico business license number. The state raised the limit for minor work by unlicensed workers from $500 to $1,000, but only when the work needs no permit and they employ no one on it.
Call (530) 399-1513 or use the form, and tell us whether your crawl space has vents, whether a water heater or furnace sits down there, and what's stored in it, so I show up knowing what to look for.
