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Crawl space insulation in Hanahan SC - warmer floors and a drier space underneath

Cold floors or a musty smell coming up from under the house? We find the cause, deal with it first, then insulate the crawl space.

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A crawl space has a white plastic vapor barrier covering its floor and walls, with large flexible ducts overhead.
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Crawl space insulation
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(843) 278-0353

How do you know your crawl space needs work?

  • Cold floors in winter

    You feel it in your bare feet, mostly in the rooms right over the crawl space. It usually means the floor insulation is missing, sagging or getting bypassed by air coming through the vents and gaps, and until that's fixed you're paying to heat the dirt under your house.

  • A musty smell inside

    The smell drifts up through the floor, and it's often worse in summer or after a stretch of rain. That's usually damp air sitting under the house, and the longer it sits, the more chance it has to get into the wood and start mold.

  • Insulation hanging down

    When you look under the house, you see batts drooping between the joists or lying on the ground. Batts usually come down because they got wet or animals pulled at them, and once they're down they do nothing except hold moisture against the framing.

Do I need to seal my crawl space or just insulate it?

Crawl space insulation in Hanahan goes either on the underside of the floor above the crawl space or on the walls of a crawl space that's been closed up. It keeps the floors over it warmer and slows the damp from getting into the house. A full job turns a damp, vented crawl space into one that's sealed, insulated and dry.

Most people who call us have cold floors, a musty smell or a pest control tech who told them the insulation is falling down, and the real question is whether to keep the vents open and redo the floor or close the space up and insulate the walls. The price and the schedule mostly turn on that choice, along with how big the crawl space is, how much room there is to work, whether old, wet insulation has to come out first, and whether mold, a gas appliance or a termite contract has to be handled before anything gets closed in. Once I've been under your house, your written estimate lays out the order of the work and what it costs.

Details to note before an estimate

  • Rough square footage of the house
  • Whether the crawl space has open vents
  • Any gas furnace or water heater underneath
  • Mold, damp or standing water you've seen
  • Termite contract and the company's name
  • Rooms with the coldest floors

How we handle crawl space insulation

Before anything goes in, I sit down with you and talk through whether your crawl space should stay vented or be sealed, because that choice decides where the insulation goes and what else the job needs. If there's mold, a gas appliance down there or a termite contract, we sort that out first. Closing the vents by themselves can make the moisture worse, and sealing up a space where fuel-burning equipment pulls its air from the crawl space can turn deadly, so that equipment gets planned for before anything is closed in. One national guide calls for a certified mold remediation expert to inspect any mold and set a cleanup plan before work goes ahead, so if you've seen mold, plan and budget for that step coming first. After that, our installers pull out anything wet or ruined, close up the gaps, lay the moisture barrier when we're sealing the space, and put the insulation where the plan says it goes.

A cold floor isn't always the whole story. If a room on an outside wall still feels cold once the crawl space is done, wall insulation may be the next step, and drafts coming through gaps around pipes, wires and ducts are a job for air sealing services, which often does more good than another layer of insulation. I started this business in Hanahan in 2017, and we do this work here and across the cities around it, including North Charleston, Charleston, Summerville and Moncks Corner, where plenty of houses sit on vented crawl spaces.

Work that often goes with a crawl space job

  • Wall insulation

    Rooms on outside walls can stay cold even after the floor warms up, and filling empty wall cavities reaches drafts a crawl space job can't.

  • Air sealing services

    Air slips in through gaps around pipes, wires and the attic hatch, and closing those first lets your insulation actually do its job.

What happens after you call about your crawl space

  1. Call or send a request

    Call (843) 278-0353 or use the form, and tell us what you've noticed under the house or in the rooms above it. We'll set a time for me to come out.

  2. Look under the house together

    I go under the house and show you what I find, with photos if you'd rather stay up top. That way you see the wet spots and the sagging insulation for yourself instead of taking my word for it.

  3. Get a written plan

    You get a written estimate that says what we'd fix first, what comes after, why, and what it costs. We go over it until the plan makes sense to you, and nothing starts until you say so.

  4. We do the work in order

    Our installers protect your home and the path to the crawl space, then do the work in the order the plan lays out, and I'm usually right there with them. When it's done, I walk you through the finished space.

What people ask about crawl space insulation

Does a vented crawl space stay dry in a humid climate like Hanahan's?

Usually not. Research on crawl spaces in hot, humid and mixed climates shows open vents tend to bring in more moisture than they let out, and that moisture condenses on the floor framing, where it can lead to mold and rotted wood under your floor. That's a big reason so many vented crawl spaces around here smell musty by late summer.

How much does crawl space insulation cost near Charleston?

Insulating a crawl space in the Charleston area usually runs about $1,400 to $6,300 per job. Where yours lands depends mostly on the size of the space, whether we're redoing the floor or sealing and insulating the walls, and whether old insulation, mold or moisture has to be dealt with first. I'll give you your own number in writing after I've been under the house.

Do I still need to insulate the floor if the crawl space walls are insulated?

No, not in a closed crawl space with rigid foam board on the walls. The foam on the walls does the insulating for the whole space, so you're paying for one insulated layer instead of two. If the crawl space stays vented, the insulation belongs under the floor instead.

Who can install crawl space insulation in South Carolina?

In South Carolina, insulation installers fall under the state's residential specialty contractor registration, which covers specialty jobs over $500. That takes in just about any crawl space job. We're fully licensed and insured.

How do I seal a crawl space so it meets South Carolina code?

A sealed crawl space in South Carolina needs a continuous, sealed vapor retarder, a moisture barrier sheet, laid over the bare dirt and run up the foundation wall, plus a way to dry the air, such as a dehumidifier, a little conditioned air from your system or an exhaust fan that runs all the time. Where the state rates termite pressure as "very heavy," foam on the walls also has to leave an inspection gap along the top of the foundation wall and the sill plate, the board the house sits on, and it can't go on foundation walls below ground. We build those into the plan for your house.

What is the best way to seal a crawl space if I have a termite contract?

Talk to your pest control company before anything gets sealed. South Carolina's termite rules call for a set amount of crawl space vent area on termite treatments done after the house was built, unless that requirement is waived, so check with the company about it before the vents get closed. Once you know where they stand, we plan the job around it.

Get a written plan for your crawl space

We reply within one business day to set a time, and the estimate is free, done on site, with no pressure and no obligation. I'll come out, look under the house with you, and you'll get a written estimate that says what we'd fix first, what comes after and why.

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Have your crawl space looked at

Call (843) 278-0353 or send the form, because the sooner the damp under your house is dealt with, the less wood there is to dry out or replace.

Request an estimateCall (843) 278-0353