Below the mountain
Kennesaw crawl spaces are reaching a damp age.
Kennesaw's rain gauge southwest of downtown averages about 53 and a half inches a year, enough to keep the summer air heavy for months. In the hills below Kennesaw Mountain, much of the ground near downtown is Madison and Pacolet soil worn down to its red clay subsoil, so a hard rain runs off before it soaks in, and some of it ends up under houses on the low side of a slope. In the creek bottoms, frequently flooded Cartecay soil holds water about a foot down. And most Kennesaw homes were built from the 1990s on, which means a lot of vented crawl spaces now 25 to 35 years into humid Georgia summers.
The ground under the house
Builder plastic, bare dirt, runoff paths along the uphill wall and any standing water.
Ducts, insulation and wood
Sweating ductwork, sagging insulation, and joists and sub-floor checked for damp and mildew.
Air and pest entry points
Foundation vents, the access door and gaps around pipes that let humid air and animals in.
Four signs your Kennesaw crawl space is holding moisture.
In Kennesaw, crawl space moisture usually comes from humid air, slope runoff or a nearby creek. These are the four signs that most often send homeowners to look underneath.
Damp dirt at one end
Ducts dripping in summer
Mildew on newer framing
Cold rooms over the crawl space
One of these sound familiar? A free look underneath tells you why.
How we diagnose a Kennesaw crawl space.
A lot of companies show up to sell you the biggest encapsulation package they install. We show up to figure out what's actually driving the moisture in your crawl space first, then prescribe the system that fixes it, and tell you straight, even when the answer is "you don't need as much as you were told."
Diagnose
A free in-home inspection. We get under the house, find where the moisture and air are coming from, and walk you through what's actually going on down there.
Prescribe
The right encapsulation system for your crawl space, not the priciest package. A plain-English explanation and a fair price in writing. You decide on your own time.
Treat
Dependable work by our own local crew, on time, cleaned up after themselves. We seal the space and walk you through what we did before we leave.
A lot of companies sell you a package. We diagnose first, then prescribe only what your crawl space actually needs to stay dry and sealed. That's the difference between an honest local team and a sales quota from out of town.
What a Kennesaw crawl space encapsulation includes.
An encapsulation is a set of parts, chosen for the house. A crawl space on a well drained Madison or Pacolet lot may need a liner, sealed vents and a dehumidifier, while one in a Cartecay creek bottom may need water moved out first. The diagnosis sets the list.
Vapor Barrier Liner
A heavy liner replaces thin builder plastic, sealed across the dirt and up the walls, so the soil can no longer add moisture to the air under the floor.
Best for: shifted plastic and damp dirt.
Dehumidifier
With the space sealed, a crawl space dehumidifier keeps the air dry through the humid months, so the ducts stop sweating and the wood stays clean.
Best for: damp air and a musty downstairs.
Drainage & Sump
Where runoff or creek-bottom water collects under a house, a drain under the liner carries it to a sump pump that sends it out and away.
Best for: the uphill end of a slope and creek lots.
Vent Sealing & Insulation
Sealing the vents and the access door and insulating the walls keeps humid summer air and winter cold out from under the house.
Best for: cold rooms and animals getting in.
When crawl space moisture reaches the rest of the house.
Damp air under a house can soften the joists, the sub-floor and the floors above, and runoff can work on the piers. If the inspection finds that, one local team handles the repair.
Foundation Repair
Basement Waterproofing
Sagging Floor Repair
Floor Rebuilds
Damp and bouncy? One visit tells you which to fix first.
In their own words.
Kennesaw crawl space encapsulation FAQ.
Find out what is under your Kennesaw home.
We will go under the house for free, show you where the moisture is coming from and give you a fair written price for sealing it. If it only needs a new liner or a gutter fix, we will tell you that.