Crawlspace Vapor Barrier is a Must-Have for Any Healthy Home

Our home is only as healthy as we can strive to make it to be. An unhealthy home can cause unwanted sickness and can be subjected to the invasion of harmful pests, like various bugs, spiders and even rodents. The reality is that when your crawlspace is not properly sealed, it’s nearly like a portal with a bright, flashing neon sign that is inviting every pest, pathogen and moisture into the area.

An unsealed crawlspace can actually cause some people to become ill, in instances where mold, mildew, rot or insect infestation has occurred. Mold can also quickly spread from the crawlspace in your home to other areas, infesting your walls, insulation and ultimately making your home unsafe to live in while vastly detracting from the value of the home and costing you thousands in repairs. While this seems very serious – and it really is – there is a very simple and affordable, effective solution that can be quickly installed into your home to prevent these potential mishaps from occurring: a crawlspace vapor barrier.

A crawlspace vapor barrier will protect your home from harmful toxins, moisture, mold, mildew and unwanted pests that otherwise could compromise the health and the security of your entire family and your wellbeing. Another added bonus when you install a crawlspace vapor barrier into your home is that you can more easily prevent in-home allergens from creeping into your breathing space and making you cough, sneeze and become congested all of the time.

But the benefits of a crawlspace vapor barrier don’t just stop there. In fact, there are numerous other ways that you can benefit when you seal your crawl space. For example, a sealed crawlspace will actually help to reduce your monthly utility bills because it will prevent air leaks and excess humidity levels. Air leaks cost you more money monthly on air conditioning and heating, and overwork your air conditioning and heating unit because it has to remove the excess humidity from the air that’s leaked from your crawlspace. Additionally, too much humidity in the air can more easily carry viruses, bacteria and airborne illnesses as well as allergens, causing you to get sick more frequently.

Without an adequate crawlspace vapor barrier in place, you could also be compromising the integrity of your lavish hardwood flooring, which can buckle and deteriorate if moisture levels in the home are too high. This same overabundance of humidity that commonly occurs when you don’t have a crawlspace vapor barrier also affects the doors and the seals in your home. It can make doors stick more often, and it can deplete the integrity of the seals on your windows and doors. Most houses are designed to draw air in from the crawlspace and circulate it throughout the home.

The main question that you want to ask yourself when considering installing a crawlspace vapor barrier is: do you really want to be breathing in harmful toxins and other elements that can affect your health and the value of your home when you can easily prevent this by installing a crawlspace vapor barrier? The obvious answer: no.