Crawl space spray foam insulation in Edson is work on the void under an addition or under an older house that was built without a full basement. The approach is to bring that space inside the building rather than treat it as outdoor space, and in this town the reason is water before it is heat.
A crawl space under trees does not dry out
The ground under a shaded house here is damp for most of the year, and a crawl space sitting on that ground is taking evaporation from it continuously. The air in the void ends up wetter than the air outside, and everything above it is in contact with that air, which means joists, subfloor, ducts and insulation are all living in it. Where a dry-climate crawl space has an occasional problem, one here has a permanent condition, and treating it as a ventilation issue has generally made it worse.
Why the vents are not helping in this climate
The theory behind a vented crawl space is that outside air carries the moisture away. That works where the outside air is drier than the air under the house. Here, for a large part of the year, it is not: the air being invited in is damp, and in summer it is also warmer, so it condenses on the cool surfaces under the floor. The vents get closed and sealed as part of this work, and that is a deliberate choice rather than a shortcut. It is also the part that most needs explaining, because owners have usually been told the opposite.
Nothing gets sealed until the ground is covered
The order is fixed. A vapour barrier goes down over the soil, lapped and turned up the walls, before anything else happens. Sealing a crawl space over bare earth without doing that traps the ground's moisture inside the building rather than excluding it, and it is the single commonest way this job is done badly. Once the ground is covered, closed cell foam goes on the perimeter walls and the rim above them, not between the floor joists, so the space ends up inside the thermal envelope.
The pipes are the reason the phone call happens
Very few people call about a crawl space because of comfort. They call because something down there froze, or nearly did, and in an Edson winter that is a real risk in an uninsulated void with plumbing running through it. Bringing the space inside the envelope is what removes that risk, because the pipes are then in conditioned space rather than in a cold box under the floor. That is the argument that gets the work done, and the moisture improvement arrives with it.
Crawl Space Spray Foam Insulation Edson: The Covering Requirement
Where the crawl space is reachable and used, the foam needs covering. A crawl space in Edson that somebody can get into and store things in needs a thermal barrier over the foam, and where it is a sealed service void the requirement is assessed rather than assumed. Either way it is settled at the quote.
Crawl Space Spray Foam Insulation Edson: Common Questions
Should the vents stay open? No. In this climate the air being invited in is frequently damper than the air already there.
Does the ground really need covering first? Always, and it is the step most commonly skipped. Sealing over bare earth traps the source inside.
Will this stop our pipes freezing? That is the main reason people do it. The space ends up inside the heated envelope.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Edson quote. More on Crawl Space Spray Foam Insulation Alberta.