Because excessive dampness in a crawlspace or basement can condense you can install a vapor barrier to protect floor framing from becoming damp and covered with fungus efflorescence and rot.
Covering damp floor with barrier.
Damp basement conditions can easily ruin certain flooring materials like plywood oriented strand board osb and carpeting installed directly over a basement slab floor.
One method of controlling crawl space moisture is with a very simple and inexpensive project.
While proper landscaping can direct rain water away from your house it doesn t always solve the problem of water vapor.
Laying out rolls of ordinary sheet plastic.
Density carpet pad 74 sq.
I d cover a wet or damp crawl space floor with a layer of dimpled plastic drainage matting.
Rigid foam insulates the walls floor.
Department of energy which now defines it as a vapor diffusion barrier.
The air space created by the matting will promote good drainage and evaporation of soil moisture.
A thick plastic air and moisture barrier covers the floor and is sealed to the wall insulation.
Crawl space ground cover for moisture control how to dry out a wet or damp crawl space how to control crawl space moisture and mold how when where why to install plastic on a crawl space floor to help control crawlspace moisture and mold current best practices to keep a crawl space dry questions answers about using plastic or other ground covers in crawl spaces to control moisture.
Traditionally this plastic has been called a vapor barrier but this strategy has been retitled by the u s.
How vapor barriers work.
A vapor barrier consists of one or more layers of sheet plastic 6 mil visqueen on top of the soil in the crawlspace or basement.
Wet basement floor solutions there are several methods of battling the problem of basement moisture including landscaping creating vapor barriers and raised floor tiles with a vapor barrier.