Why Your Crawl Space Insulation Might Be Doing More Harm Than Good
Introduction
Crawl Space Insulation Problems
WHEN THE WRONG INSTALL MAKES THINGS WORSE
I'm in Hixson, Tennessee today.
A neighborhood called Hidden Harbor, right around the corner from where my grandmother used to live.
I grew up about 10 minutes down the road from here and spent a lot of time on this mountain.
So when I crawled under this house and saw what was going on, it hit a little different.
This is my area. These are the homes I know. And this crawl space was a mess.
We've got fungus growing. Insulation falling down.
An addition that was done without the right work underneath.
High humidity. Water intrusion. A whole bucket of problems that didn't happen overnight - they built up over time because corners got cut somewhere along the way.
The thing is, this isn't unusual.
A lot of homes in this area have the same issues. And most homeowners have no idea until something starts going wrong upstairs.
What Wrong Insulation Looks Like
This house had an office and a playroom added on at some point. Whoever did the work put R-19 insulation in the crawl space for that addition. That's not necessarily a problem - except they installed it upside down.
When insulation goes in wrong, it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. The facing needs to be in the right direction to manage moisture. Flip it around and you're creating problems instead of solving them.
On top of that, the insulation was too thin for what it needed to do. And in other parts of the crawl space, the old insulation was already falling down. Just hanging there, not doing anything except collecting moisture and making things worse.
This is what happens when crawl space work gets rushed or done by someone who doesn't know what they're looking at. It might look fine from the outside, but underneath it's a different story.
The Problems That Follow
Once the insulation fails, everything else starts to go downhill.
Humidity levels climb because there's nothing controlling the moisture under the house. In this crawl space, it was high enough that you could feel it the second you got down there.
Then you start seeing fungus. Little mushroom-looking growths on the wood. That's not just ugly - it's a sign that the moisture has been sitting long enough for things to start breaking down. Left alone, that leads to wood rot, structural issues, and air quality problems in the home above.
There was water intrusion too. No surprise there. When you've got exposed earth and no real vapor barrier doing its job, water finds its way in and has nowhere to go.
One bad install leads to another problem, which leads to another. That's how you end up with a crawl space like this one - a bucket of issues that all trace back to shortcuts and missed details.
When Additions Make It Worse
Here's something I see a lot. A homeowner adds a room to their house - an office, a playroom, a bedroom, whatever. The work upstairs looks great. But nobody thinks about what's happening underneath.
In this house, the addition had no flashing on the sill plate. That's the piece of wood that sits on top of your foundation. Without flashing, you've got exposed earth right there at the edge, letting moisture and pests in with nothing stopping them.
The insulation was wrong. The vapor barrier wasn't addressed. And now, years later, the crawl space under that addition is causing problems for the whole house.
Additions are supposed to add value. But when the crawl space work gets skipped or done wrong, you're just adding square footage to a problem. It's one of those things that doesn't show up right away - until it does.
What Chattanooga Area Homeowners Should Know
I grew up on Big Ridge. I've spent time in these neighborhoods my whole life. And I can tell you - these problems are everywhere up here.
The soil, the humidity, the way a lot of these homes were built decades ago - it all adds up. Crawl spaces in this area deal with moisture constantly. If the insulation, vapor barrier, and drainage aren't done right, it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong.
If you're in Hixson, Signal Mountain, or anywhere around Chattanooga, it's worth knowing what's under your house. You don't need to become an expert. But you should know the signs.
Musty smells in your home. Floors that feel soft or uneven. Humidity that won't quit no matter what you do with the thermostat. Those are signals that something's going on in the crawl space.
And if you've had an addition put on your home, it's worth checking whether the crawl space work was done right - or done at all.
How We Fix It
When we come into a crawl space like this one, we're not just patching problems. We're fixing what's wrong and setting it up right for the long term.
First thing is getting the old insulation out. If it's falling down, installed wrong, or soaked with moisture, it's not helping. It's hurting. That stuff needs to go.
Then we deal with the moisture. That means addressing water intrusion, getting humidity under control, and treating any fungus that's already growing. You can't just cover it up and hope for the best. You have to actually fix it.
After that, we encapsulate the crawl space the right way. Vapor barrier down, sealed up properly, with the right materials for the job. If there's missing flashing or exposed earth, we address that too. No shortcuts. No skipped steps.
The goal is a crawl space that protects your home instead of causing problems for it. When we leave, you should be set up for years - not calling us back in six months because something was missed.
Ready to See What's Under Your House?
If you're in Chattanooga, Hixson, Signal Mountain, or anywhere nearby, I'm happy to come take a look at your crawl space. No cost, no pressure. Just an honest inspection so you know what you're dealing with.
I do all the inspections myself. I'll show you what I find, explain what's going on, and give you straightforward options. If there's a problem, we'll talk about how to fix it. If everything looks fine, I'll tell you that too.
This is the area I grew up in. These are the homes I've known my whole life. Taking care of them the right way matters to me.
Give me a call or shoot me a text. Let's see what's going on under your house.
