Musty smell or damp dirt under the house? We cover and seal the crawl space floor so ground moisture stays out of your house.
Vapor barrier installation in Rohnert Park means our crew lays a heavy plastic sheet over the dirt floor of your crawl space and seals it to the walls and piers, so water and water vapor from the ground stay out from under your house.
Most people call me because something under the house feels off. The floors over the crawl space smell musty, the dirt down there always looks damp, or they finally opened the hatch for the first time in years and didn't like what they saw. Bare ground gives off moisture all the time, and in a closed space under your floors that moisture tends to end up in the wood.
The price mostly comes down to the size of the crawl space, how much has to come out before the plastic goes down, and whether you want a ground cover alone or a fully sealed space. The schedule depends on how easy the space is to get around in and whether there's a water problem to fix first. When I come out, I'll show you what I found and what I'd do first.
A barrier is just plastic on the dirt, but a few things decide whether it keeps your crawl space dry or just hides the problem. These are what I look at when I'm down there.
If water pools in the crawl space or the dirt stays muddy, that gets dealt with before any plastic goes down, and definitely before anything gets sealed. Closing up a wet space just traps the problem under your floors. If drainage work is needed, I'll point it out at the estimate so you can schedule it ahead of our work.
Closing up a crawl space changes how it handles moisture, so it's worth keeping an eye on the air down there afterward. Building guidance says that if humidity stays above 70% once the space is enclosed, it may need extra dehumidification. That might happen and it might not, and if your space heads that way, we'll talk it through.
The plastic only does its job if it covers the whole floor and runs up the walls and around each pier, sealed so ground moisture can't slip around the edges. That's why anything stored down there, plus plants, roots and other organic stuff on the dirt, comes out first. Loose edges and gaps are where weak barriers usually fail.
Here's how a vapor barrier job goes with us, from your first call to the walk-through at the end, so you know who you'll talk to and what happens at each step.
Call (707) 576-6028 or send the contact form and tell us a little about the house. We'll get back to you to set up a time that works for you.
I come out, go down into the crawl space and take photos. Then we sit down together, and I show you what I found and tell you what I'd do first, whether that's drainage, a ground cover or sealing the space.
On the day of the work, our crew protects your floors and clears out the crawl space. Then they lay the plastic and seal it to the walls and piers so the ground is fully covered.
Before we pack up, I walk through the finished job with you. I'll show you how the barrier is sealed and point out what to keep an eye on if you peek in down the road.
Some homes just need a good ground cover, and some do better with a sealed crawl space, where the vents get closed and the walls get insulated too. I'll walk you through which fits yours. I look at the whole house when I do, because the crawl space is only the bottom of it. Air that sneaks in down there usually finds its way out through the attic, which is why attic air sealing often comes up in the same conversation.
The order matters most to me. Any water problem gets handled first. Then the plastic goes down, and only after that do we close vents or insulate walls, using the same kind of work we do in retrofit insulation. If a gas furnace or water heater sits down there, we plan for a venting check before the space gets closed up.
If there's nothing down there but dirt, pipes and wiring, a ground cover is usually all you need, and I'll tell you so. If your furnace and ductwork live in the crawl space, I lean toward sealing it, because closing the vents and insulating the walls keeps humid outside air away from that equipment, and the furnace and ducts tend to last longer for it.
You don't have to do it all at once. Laying the ground cover first takes care of moisture coming up from the dirt, and closing the vents and insulating the walls can wait until the timing or budget works better.
If someone needs to reach the furnace or water heater for service, we can lay a vinyl runner or an extra layer of plastic along that path so foot traffic doesn't wear through the barrier.
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a time. I'll come out to your home, go down into the crawl space, and show you what I found and what I'd do first. The estimate is free, and there's no obligation.
(707) 576-6028Permits here go through the City of Rohnert Park's Building Division, which takes applications online from contractors and property owners. I won't guess at whether a vapor barrier job needs one. If it isn't clear for your job, we check with the city before work starts. If a permit is needed, we apply for it, keep you posted and set up the inspections, which the city schedules through its online portal.
A lot of the crawl spaces we open around Rohnert Park have old plastic that's torn, pushed into a corner or was never fastened to the walls, along with leftover building scraps. We see the same thing in Cotati and Santa Rosa, and we handle it the same way, pulling out what isn't working and laying a barrier that reaches every wall and pier.
I come out for every estimate myself, so the person who crawled under your house is the one explaining what's down there, in plain words. Our crew does the work, with me on site or one of our lead installers running the day. I opened the business here in 2021, after starting out as a helper on an insulation crew. That's where I learned to look at the whole house before selling anybody anything.
We're licensed and insured. That's worth asking any contractor about, because in California, someone without a contractor's license can only take on work under $1,000, and only when the job needs no permit and they have nobody working for them. Our promise is satisfaction guaranteed.
If your crawl space has been on the list for a while, now's a good time to find out what's actually down there. Call (707) 576-6028 or send the contact form. I'll come out, crawl in and show you what I see before you decide anything.
Once the ground under the house is covered, closing the gaps up top keeps the house from pulling air in from below and leaking it out through the attic.
If you're sealing the crawl space, the walls down there need insulating too, and older houses often have other spots that never got any to begin with.
We're based in Rohnert Park and work across the cities around it in Sonoma and Marin counties, including the ones below and plenty of others nearby.
Yes. Building guidance calls for the plastic ground cover whether the crawl space is vented or sealed, because vents don't stop moisture rising out of the dirt. The vents only change whether you stop at the ground cover or go on to seal the space.
Across the US, a basic vapor barrier, supplied and laid, usually costs about $4,500 to $11,000 per crawl space. That's the national going rate for a basic job, not our price. Where your job lands comes down to the size, the cleanout and the options you pick, so I look at the space before we talk numbers.
It can, if a natural draft water heater or furnace sits in the crawl space. That's one that relies on hot air rising up the flue. Building guidance calls for a combustion safety test after sealing in that case, to make sure fumes vent out properly and don't spill back into the space. We plan for it before anything gets closed up.
A well-installed barrier helps keep down ground moisture and soil gases like radon coming up from the dirt. It isn't radon testing or a radon fix, though. Think of it as one part of keeping the ground's air out of your crawl space.
Not much. Make sure we can get to the crawl space hatch, move anything you've got stored down there if you can, and get any drainage work done before we start. For a ground cover alone you usually don't need to leave the house. If the walls are getting spray foam, I'll tell you at the estimate what that means for your family.
It comes down to the size of your crawl space, how tight it is to move around in and whether you're sealing it, since a sealed space has more steps than a ground cover alone. Any drainage fix happens before we start, so that adds to the overall timeline. I'll give you a sense of the schedule once I've been down there.
Call (707) 576-6028 or send the form, and tell us the rough size of your crawl space, whether the vents are open, any standing water you've seen and whether a gas furnace or water heater is down there, so I come out ready.
