Crawl space spray foam insulation in Drumheller is common work because of what this town's housing is. About 76% of homes here predate 1991 and much of it is older than that again, built for mining families along the valley, and a very large share of those houses sit over a shallow crawl space rather than a full basement. Digging a basement was not the priority when the housing went up quickly, and in parts of the valley the ground made it unattractive anyway.
Bare earth is a moisture source
The single most common finding under a house of this age here is a dirt floor with nothing over it. Soil under a building is damp even in semi-arid country, because the building shelters it from the sun and wind that would otherwise dry it. Water evaporates off that soil continuously, the vapour rises, and it ends up in the wood of the floor structure above. Over years that is how a joist gets soft at the end bearing on the wall, how a subfloor cups, and how an insulation batt stapled into the floor bays becomes a wet sponge holding water against the joist it was meant to protect. A ground vapour barrier under the whole footprint, lapped and sealed up the walls, is the first item on any crawl space here, before insulation is even discussed.
Why the old vents made it worse
Crawl spaces of this era were built with vents in the perimeter wall on the theory that outside air would dry the space. In summer that theory fails. Warm outdoor air entering a cool crawl space is immediately closer to its dew point, and it deposits water on the cool surfaces in there, including the ducts and the underside of the floor. So the vents bring moisture in during the season the space most needs drying. The modern approach, and the one that works, is to close the vents, seal the ground, insulate the perimeter wall rather than the floor above, and bring the crawl space inside the conditioned envelope.
Ground that will not stay put
The valley is cut into bentonitic shale and clay, and bentonite swells when it wets and shrinks when it dries. The crawl space walls here are frequently low concrete, block or even rubble, and they have moved. Expect walls out of plumb, slumped corners, floors that are no longer level, and cracks that open and close with the season. That makes a fitted board system very difficult to seal against. Closed-cell foam at roughly R-6 to R-7 per inch is adhered directly to whatever surface is there, follows every irregularity, and becomes its own vapour retarder past about two inches, which is why it is the sensible material for an irregular old crawl space.
Access is the real constraint
In this stock the crawl space hatch is often inside a closet or under a porch, the headroom can be under two feet, and the ground is uneven. Whether the space can be worked in at all is the first thing we need to establish, and it is the variable that moves a crawl space quote more than anything to do with insulation. If a space genuinely cannot be entered, the honest answer is to insulate and seal the floor above from inside the house instead, and to say so rather than quote work that cannot be done.
The valley floor, overnight
Cold air drains off the tableland above and pools on the valley bottom through the night. A crawl space on the floor is therefore surrounded by the coldest air in the municipality during the hours the house is asked to hold temperature, and the plumbing and ducts running through it are in that air. A sealed and insulated crawl space puts those services inside the envelope. We quote the job, schedule it and stand behind it, and pricing follows the sprayed area against the target R-value plus the ground barrier as its own item.
Crawl Space Spray Foam Insulation Drumheller: Common Questions
There is dirt under our house. Does that matter? It is the most important thing about the space. Bare soil evaporates into the structure continuously, so a sealed ground barrier comes before any insulation.
Should the crawl space vents be closed? Generally yes. Venting a cool crawl space with warm summer air deposits moisture rather than removing it, which is the opposite of what the vents were intended to do.
The crawl space walls are cracked and out of plumb. Can it still be done? Yes. Sprayed foam bonds to an irregular wall and follows the movement, which a fitted board cannot.
How much does crawl space spray foam insulation cost in Drumheller? It follows the sprayed area and depth, with the ground barrier priced separately. On this housing stock the access and headroom have more effect on the number than the size of the footprint does.
How do I choose a crawl space spray foam contractor in Drumheller? Ask whether their quote includes sealing the ground and closing the vents. A quote that only insulates has left the water source in place.
Work out the depth with the R-value calculator, then get a free Drumheller quote. More on Crawl Space Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.