SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
nvestysly

Concrete Floor or Encapsulation for Crawl Space?

nvestysly
2 years ago

We'd like to hear your comments about putting a concrete floor in our crawl space prior to framing versus encapsulating the crawl space after the building is dried in. The concrete floor version of the crawl space will have about 42" of headroom. The encapsulated crawl space will have 48" of headroom.


We are building a new, single-story home ~1900 square feet in the SE U.S. The terrain lends itself to a crawl space but we didn't see the need for basement. We do plan to locate the HVAC system in the crawl space. The contractor added exterior sealant (tar?) to the block wall and used dimple sheet and drain around the perimeter of the exterior. The contractor indicated this is the method used in our area for basements and thinks this will be suitable "waterproofing" for the house.


The crawl space is 2800 square feet in total because the crawl space also includes 900 square feet under the concrete front porch - raised concrete porch floor on deck pans. The crawl space of the house and crawl space under the porch are interconnected via two passages through the block wall at the front of the house. The crawl space it will have a dehumidifier regardless of whether we have a concrete floor or encapsulation.


The estimates we've received for encapsulation make us think we may prefer to pour a concrete floor in the crawl space. The cost for both is within $2000 (or so) of each other.


If we we pour concrete it will have a 2" layer of #57 gravel, a 15mil vapor barrier, followed by 3" of concrete recommended by the contractor. The concrete floor would be done now prior to any framing.


Initially we had planned to encapsulate the crawl space. That's typically performed after the building is dried-in and the trades (HVAC, electrical, plumbing) have finished their work.


Questions:


1) Concrete versus encapsulation? Which do you prefer and why?


2) If concrete, is 2" sufficient or do we need 3" as recommended by contractor. The cost for 2" (17 yards) is $2600 vs. 3" (25 yards) is $4000. The $1400 is not trivial but not a major factor in the overall cost of building this home.


3) Other comments?

Comments (4)