Crawl Space Encapsulation Eliminates Cold Winter Floors
Crawl space encapulation can stop cold winter floors unlike regular standard fiber glass insulation.
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Can your floors stand up to old man winter?
Winter always comes back — even to subtropical Southern Louisiana. And when it returns, so can the discomfort of your feet hitting a shockingly cold floor every morning. The truth is that even if the floor joists above your home’s crawl space are crammed full of nice, fluffy fiberglass insulation, your toes are likely going to feel a chill when temperatures drop.
Your current insulation may not be up to the job.
Since most crawl spaces aren’t sealed, yours may have spent the hot Louisiana summer allowing humid air to creep through vents, openings, and gaps in framing on top of foundation walls. Once this soggy air cools and reaches its dew point, condensation forms on crawl space surfaces — including that fluffy insulation you count on — and pretty soon it’s saggy too, leaving gaps that lead to the subfloor above. And once cooler air has a passageway to your floors, you’re likely to discover that no matter how much you adjust your thermostat (and shell out for higher utility costs), you still have cold feet.
Don’t just insulate. Encapsulate.
What you need is crawl space encapsulation. It is an insulation that not only insulates, but also seals, the underside of your sub-flooring. While rigid foam board panels might seem like the answer, it doesn’t solve your crawl space moisture problem. Plus, as long as the air from your ducts has to traverse a cold space, some of the heat they’re supposed to carry is getting lost along the way.
There’s no denying the effectiveness of closed cell spray foam subfloor encapsulation.
An LSU Ag Center study confirmed that permeable types of insulation, like that batt insulation and even open cell foam, permitted elevated moisture levels of subfloors. On the other hand, the report indicates that closed cell spray foam insulation, or crawl space encapsulation, which is impermeable, showed good performance and is suitable for preventing moisture accumulation — and subsequent air gaps — in subfloors of raised floor systems in Southern Louisiana.
Encapsulation protects your home, saves you money, and ensure your comfort.
Sealing or “encapsulating” your subfloors with closed cell spray foam insulation ensures that your crawl space temperature stays more similar to that of the rooms above, keeping your floors warmer in winter. The foam is not only an excellent vapor/air barrier, but is also impervious to moisture. As a bonus, when your subfloors are encapsulated, heating ducts lose less heat, so even if outside temperatures reach extreme lows, you won’t have to worry about your plumbing pipes — or your toes — freezing.
Subfloor encapsulation is worth it.
While encapsulating your subfloors with closed cell spray foam may cost a bit more than relying on other types of insulation, nothing has been proven more effective as an air barrier, moisture regulator or energy efficiency booster for your home.
Sunlight encapsulates with your safety and comfort in mind.
When you call the professional crew at Sunlight Contractors to encapsulate your subfloor, they take safety seriously, suiting up in personal protective equipment and setting up signs to alert neighbors of the spraying. It’s a fairly quick process, usually taking Corey or another one of our SPFA-certified professionals just one day to apply the foam. It clings to the underside of the floorboards and the result is firm, impermeable, protective encapsulation that prevents both moisture damage and air leaks. Let Sunlight Contractors encapsulate your subfloor. They’ll make sure that your home is barefoot-comfortable no matter what the season.
Locations:
Main Office: Sunlight Contractors, LLC 2323 Bainbridge St #110, Kenner, LA 70062 (504) 919-9993
New Orleans location: Sunlight Contractors, LLC 650 Poydras St, Suite 1400, Rm 33, New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 302-0058