Tips for Insulating Your Home’s Crawl Space

Crawl spaces make it easy to service the plumbing and drain systems, HVAC ducts and other components beneath your Indiana home. However, they’re a potential source of energy loss, air quality issues and moisture problems.

Properly insulating your crawl space can help with all these issues while making your home more comfortable and efficient. Here are some tips to help you start the insulation process. 

Where Should I Insulate My Crawl Space?

There are two primary approaches to insulating a crawl space.   

Crawl Space Walls

It’s beneficial to insulate the crawl space walls to keep the cavities and pipes warm if the crawl space contains water or heat lines. Insulating will encapsulate the crawl space by sealing it with a vapor barrier and insulating its walls and box/ban sill.

This needs to be done at a level of R-10 or greater. Effective crawl space insulation minimizes heating losses, prevents cold floors in the winter and protects pipes from freezing. 

Crawl Space Flooring

If there are no water and heat lines in the crawl space, we recommend insulating the crawl space floor. Fiberglass batts and closed-cell spray foam can be placed directly on a crawl space floor. The material of the floor would determine the barrier applied.

For gravel/dirt floors, using a polyethylene vapor barrier of at least 6 millimeters is necessary, while other flooring can require 10 millimeters or greater. Whether insulating the walls, floors or the entire crawl space, insulating can provide both energy- and money-saving benefits. 

Need new home insulation or need to insulate a new construction project? Call 260-432-7543 to get a quote.

Best Tips for Crawl Space Insulation

Determine the Age of Your Home

A good aid in determining the state of crawl space insulation is the age of your home. A house that was built more than a few decades ago will likely have inadequate or outdated insulation. Homes older than that may have no insulation at all, leading to all kinds of moisture, mold and air quality problems. 

Seal Out Moisture

Any moisture in the crawl space can spell trouble for your home and family. It can cause wood beams and floor joists to rot, encourage insects and other pests to nest and lead to mold and mildew growth. To properly insulate your crawl space, it’s important to deal with any moisture problems beforehand.

This can be done by installing a vapor barrier, installing a French drain and sump pump or pouring a concrete floor in the crawl space, among other options. Ultimately, the method used will depend on the scope and severity of the moisture problem. 

Call an Insulation Contractor

To determine which insulating method and materials are best for your home, it’s best to call a professional insulation installer, such as our team at Momper Insulation.

We’ll evaluate your home, insulation level and crawl space’s current condition to determine the best processes and materials to use. We feature a few insulation products that can improve the efficiency and performance of your crawl space, including: 

• Fiberglass insulation: In vented crawl spaces, fiberglass batts can be used to insulate the floor, preventing heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. Fiberglass offers good thermal performance and competitive costs. 
• Closed-cell spray foam insulation: Applied as a liquid, spray foam insulation can expand to fill any voids between floor joists or along the rim joists. It offers exceptional air sealing and insulating qualities, and it can also act as a waterproofing material, so it’s ideal for both vented and unvented crawl spaces. 

We’ll provide a high-quality installation of all our insulation products, and our experts can also recommend the best solutions for controlling moisture in your crawl space. 

Start your crawl space insulation project today. Call 260-432-7543 to schedule your home insulation service.

Contact Us for Crawl Space Insulation Services in the Fort Wayne Area

When you need an expert to properly seal and insulate your crawl space, look no further than Momper Insulation. We have over 60 years of insulation experience, and we serve Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Crown Point and surrounding northern Indiana.

With excellent service, superior work and some of the best products in the industry, you can count on us for professional results.