Crawl space is a foundation for most of the houses, and also the most overlooked area. This makes it suffer from many problems, especially the damage from moisture. Crawl space issues are quite prevalent in Tacoma. These issues start with a crawl space can and gradually start damaging the other parts of the house too.
The good news is there are some treatments that can guard the basement against multiple problems that can arise later. Two of the most popular treatments are Rat slab installation and crawl space encapsulation in Tacoma, which are proven to be effective for crawl space repair and protect it from many upcoming problems.
Most of the house owners are confused as they don’t know what exactly these two methods are and in what way they help them with crawl space repair. In this article, we have tried to give you an insight into what you can expect out of these two crawl space repair treatments so that you can make a decision on what practice to adopt in order to keep your crawl space healthy. Let us start with understanding what exactly encapsulation and rats lab installation means.
Crawl Space Encapsulation
Encapsulation is a method that is recommended to turn a damp and damaged crawl space prone to water damage into a clean and dry space which is less prone to mold formation and other moisture-related issues.
Encapsulation also called sealing is one of the best ways to avoid getting rid of moisture in the crawl space. There are two steps involved in this treatment.
It starts with covering the crawl space with the heavy-duty polyethylene barrier. The water vapor barrier is one of the best ways of encapsulating your crawl space where the sealing tape is used to connect barrier pieces in the basement. Post encapsulating the space, the final step is to maintain an optimum humidity in the crawl space. This is generally done by adding a dehumidifier to regulate crawl space moisture to an optimum level.. It is one of the best methods to maintain the health and well-being of the basement of your house.
Rat slab Installation
It is also called as a mud slab since the material used for rat slab install is concrete and mud to repair your crawl space area. It is a thin layer (3 to 4 inches) of non-structural concrete that covers your basement. It improves the crawl space area by making it clean and easy to handle.
The major reason to install a slab is to get rid of rodents and pest infestation in the basement of a place. Apart from keeping the rodents away, it serves a solution to multiple issues like mold formation, water damage, damp and dirty area, and so on.
Rat Slab versus Encapsulation
Both encapsulation and rat slab installation are the best practices when it comes to maintaining the overall wellbeing of your crawl space.
Although encapsulation deals majorly with moisture issues whereas rat slab is a single solution catering to many issues related to the basement such as mold formation, rodents, and pest infestation, moisture damage, inefficient insulation, temperature regulation, optimum humidity, etc.
Construction specialist advice to install a rat slab rather than encapsulation since it controls multiple issues all together proactively. It is considered as a long-term solution that protects your home.
Hence construction specialists always recommend installing a rat slab as the best crawl space solution to deal with potential basement problems in the long run. Got any questions? Feel free to ask us in the comments below.