Step One: Remove Standing Water

The first step for crawl space encapsulation is to remove any standing water you have in the crawl space. Removing existing standing water is vitally important because if you don’t, you’re not going to be able to remove the crawl space moisture you have. That standing water will continue to evaporate into the air, causing very high levels of crawl space humidity. Plus, mold and mildew can grow around the standing water.

Obviously, your first step should be to identify the cause of the standing water. You might have standing water because of a plumbing leak, condensation dripping onto the floor, or a flood. Once you’ve identified and removed the cause of the standing water, you can get to work removing it. Many crawl space experts use a sump pump, either temporarily or permanently, to take the standing water from a crawl space and pump it out. If the constant presence of leaking water is a concern, you’ll want to pair your sump pump with an interior drainage system. Placed in the floor throughout your crawl space perimeter, the interior drainage system catches leaking water and channels it to the sump pump so it can be properly removed.