Q: What about sealing/insulating crawlspace walls and plastic on soil to insulate crawlspace?
A: Insulating walls in crawlspaces is a very good idea. It is a lot easier to insulate the underside of the floor than to try to insulate the soil because you can just push fiberglass in between the joists.
Response: Hi David, Thank you for replying. I had noticed condensation problems in the crawl space due to uninsulated HVAC ducts sweating in the summer. Venting the space in the summer allows humid air into the space where colder pipes sweat badly. Researched this and found a revised opinion on what to do with crawl spaces. The advice I read (sorry, no references) was to seal the wall vents, insulate the inner walls and cover the soil base with heavier plastic. Wetness due to water inflow may require drains and a sump pump. I am moving in that direction (DIY) having previously insulated the joists under the floor and ducting but still experiencing the moisture issue. Thank you again for sharing.
Reply: It sounds like you have two sources of moisture in the crawl space. The vents and the soil. I think you will need to deal with both to stop the water condensation on the HVAC ducts when the AC is running. Sealing the vents will help but without dealing with that wet soil it will probably not be enough. I think the plastic sheeting on the soil will help, but it is a band aid, not a cure. The real question is why is there so much moisture in the floor in the first place? Is the ground water high near you? If not, are your gutters in good shape? Overflowing gutters can put a lot of water in the soil right by the house and this will wet the soil under the crawl space. I have seen this and repairing the gutters (I put a perforated metal plate on the top of the gutter to keep the leaves out) and replacing split downspouts (and adding extenders to the bottom of the downspouts to keep the water away from the foundation), worked. I also sealed cracks in the basement concrete with a can of spray foam – cheap and effective as a water barrier as well as an air barrier. Once you have solved this problem, I think replacing your hot water tank with a heat-pump hot water tank will help. It will not only cut your bills and carbon footprint but it will dehumidify the basement air too. Once you have done all this, I would insulate the HVAC ducts, but if you don’t deal with the moisture first, you will risk getting dampness and mold on the insulation.
Yours sustainably,
David Green
Make money by cutting your home’s carbon footprint to zero. We have done it.