Crawl space encapsulation?

[ddbackhoe]

ddbackhoe, thanks. Necessary is the mother of invention. No need to work any harder than necessary.

One of my associates was putting up a modular and I did the excavation work. Turns out he was a micro manager and was trying to cut pennies everywhere. When backfilling the foundation. I told him we need to place gravel and a vapor barrier inside and he refused. He set the house before calling for his foundation final, guess what failed Then he wants me to do it for free because I should have told him :scratchchin: Since all we had was foundation (open and close), rough grade and septic in writing, thats all we performed. Bad enough having to fix our mistakes for free, I dont fix yours for free. He was smokin when they had to cut me a check before the house could be transferred.
L- shaped foundation 34 w x 60 l x 3.5 tall with the crawl opening at one far corner, bet he would have liked your sled rig :laughing:

 

[RalphVa]

Our crawl space used to get muddy but never had standing water in it. Had it encapsulated. Stuff is virtually like a swimming pool liner. It'll work as long as you do not have standing water. If you do, you need to stop the water or to maybe install a sump pump in the lowest area similar to what many do in basements that always get wet, e.g. a sump pump basin in the wettest corner.

This has been our wettest year and 2nd wettest since we've lived here. No problems in the crawl space. We did have to put in a couple fans under there to blow the crawl space air towards the equipment room where you enter the crawl space. Tried a dehumidifier in the crawl space. Would never catch up. Have a dehumidifier in the equipment room. It catches up. Was down to 40% this morning. Similarly need a fan on timer in the pool equipment area underneath one part of the house. Otherwise, it will rust anything metal there. Can't beat moving air to cut down on humidity.

Ralph

 

[Budweiser John]

One of my associates was putting up a modular and I did the excavation work. Turns out he was a micro manager and was trying to cut pennies everywhere. When backfilling the foundation. I told him we need to place gravel and a vapor barrier inside and he refused. He set the house before calling for his foundation final, guess what failed Then he wants me to do it for free because I should have told him :scratchchin: Since all we had was foundation (open and close), rough grade and septic in writing, thats all we performed. Bad enough having to fix our mistakes for free, I dont fix yours for free. He was smokin when they had to cut me a check before the house could be transferred.
L- shaped foundation 34 w x 60 l x 3.5 tall with the crawl opening at one far corner, bet he would have liked your sled rig :laughing:

After almost 30 years in the building/remodeling game I loved the work but hated the business especially the clients who want to help, buy their own materials,manage the project, or God forbid do the final painting.
I once had a client who bought a package vacation home and had it erected on a Lake Michigan lot in upper Michigan. He asked me if I would be willing to go up state and do all the interior trim and cabinets and of course I accepted the job and priced it based on published costs and assuming a typical unoccupied new build.
After driving for three hours, and finding the location, I put the key in the door, and opened it to find a virtual sea of already installed emerald green wall to wall carpeting. Talk about getting the cart before the horse.

B. John

 

[ultrarunner]

I was with you up to the painting...

My remodel guys love it when the homeowner wants to paint...

 

[4570Man]

Most people lack the ability to paint. I don’t hang drywall either so at least they don’t make my work look like crap. And I agree with not working for people that want to manage the whole project but don’t know squat about building. Those are the worst.

 

[Budweiser John]

A bad paint job cam make good work look second rate.

B. John

 

[rScotty]

A little history behind the house (as I've been told), the house was moved here in '93, and then was renovated in '17. I know the foundation has been here for 25 years. The house sets on the highest point of my property. I'm being literal when I say all I have to do is dig down 12" to get to bed rock. I have a place outside(water cutoff in a underground box, box sets on top of solid rock) and when it rains heavy, the box is full of water to the top. So, I believe some of the water is seeping through the block and some actually just coming up through the ground. I climbed under the house a few months ago to move TV lines for the wife and found the standing water, so I know this has been going on for years, I trenched to the lowest point of the house and added a French drain. I will try to get some pics this evening if I get off work in time. Should I open my vents? I closed them to keep pipes from freezing.

This isn't difficult. I had to do it to my house when a nearby creek flooded and the ground saturation changed permanently.
At first I put in sump pits and pumped for years but that wasn't the answer and also cost a lot in worn out pumps. Plus it was always kinda wet under the house.

The solution was two french drain systems. I trenched all 4 sides inside the foundation down to the level of the foundation and installed a continuous french drain on the inside of the foundation. Then I connected the inside french drain to a similar french drain dug around the OUTSIDE of the foundation .... but about a foot lower everywhere than the inside drain. The way it works is the lowest point of the inside french drain flows into the outside french drain which at its lowest point is then connected by a plastic underground pipe about 3 feet deep that empties into a pond a hundred feet away and downhill from the house.

All of the french drain is 4" perforated plastic pipe surrounded by an inch of gravel which is wrapped in geotextile cloth to keep the fines out of the gravel. There is a constant slope of between one and two degrees on the entire french drain and also on the pipe to the pond.

It took a month of shovel work, but not much money; now gravity drains everything around the house into the pond. It drains constantly all year around. I did add a couple of PVC "WYE" plastic clean outs where the french drains tie into the pipe going to the pond - but haven't needed to use them. And I put in a plastic sump pit about half way so that I can open the lid and check that water is flowing. All the material is from Home Depot.
luck, rScotty

 

[ultrarunner]

A bad paint job cam make good work look second rate.

B. John

But the homeowner almost always loves the work they do... I have seen so many peel and stick tiles and decorating where I had to bit my tongue… but it is all in the eyes of the beholder...

Not to get too far off... only 1 in a 100 tenants really knows how to paint... I have seen too many tenant paint jobs of bubble gum pink with the light switches, outlets, etc.. all painted or latex over oil... what a disaster!

 

[4570Man]

It’s not a rocket science activity but I’ve seen a lot of really bad paint jobs. I’d say your 100–1 ratio is right.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Most people lack the ability to paint. I don’t hang drywall either so at least they don’t make my work look like crap. And I agree with not working for people that want to manage the whole project but don’t know squat about building. Those are the worst.

One of the worse painters i knew, called himself a pro. He talked a good game, but was a lazy sorry painter.