What Happens When Crawlspace Equipment Isn't Maintained

When “Encapsulated” Doesn’t Mean Maintained

Even high-end systems break down when drainage, humidity, and follow-up are ignored

I'm out here in Knoxville installing a radon system for a customer who just bought a house.

The radon levels came back high during inspection, so they called us to handle it.

But when I got down into the crawlspace, I realized it had already been encapsulated by the biggest competitor in the area.

And it was a mess.

The whole place smelled like cat pee.

The dehumidifier was draining underneath the vapor barrier.

There was fungal growth all over the wood despite someone sealing it with some kind of coating.

And it was pretty clear nobody had been back to check on any of this since the day it was installed.

This customer thought the crawlspace was already handled. Instead, they're dealing with equipment that's set up wrong and never been maintained.

Here's the thing about crawlspace equipment - it only works if it's installed correctly and actually taken care of.

You can't just set it and forget it.

The Obvious Problem: Air and Moisture

Let me walk you through what I saw down there.

First, that smell. The whole crawlspace smelled like cat pee. That's what happens when these reinforced vapor barriers start to delaminate. The adhesive breaks down and creates that awful smell. Our vapor barriers are actually warrantied against that.

Then I looked at the dehumidifier. This thing was running straight into the vapor barrier. So all the water it's pulling out of the air? It's just dumping it right back into the dirt underneath the encapsulation. There's no condensate pump to actually get that water out and away from the crawlspace.

That makes zero sense. You're paying to run a dehumidifier that's basically working against itself.

The wood had some kind of sealant on it. You could tell someone came through and coated everything. But look at how well that worked - fungal growth poking through all over the place. I never recommend sealing wood. Wood needs to breathe. Seal it up and you just trap problems.

And there was water intrusion. Probably needs a sump pump. Signs of moisture that should've been caught and addressed.

But the biggest problem? Nobody ever came back. No maintenance. No follow-up. No one checking to make sure the equipment was still working. Just install it, take the payment, and disappear.



That's not how this is supposed to work.

Why Maintenance Actually Matters

Look, I get it. You pay for crawlspace work and you want to be done thinking about it. But equipment needs attention.

Dehumidifiers have filters that get clogged. Sensors that can fail. Drainage lines that can back up. If nobody's checking on this stuff, you won't know there's a problem until you've got fungal growth everywhere.

And humidity monitoring matters. Above 60% relative humidity is where fungal growth and wood decay starts happening. A working dehumidifier keeps you below that threshold. But if your dehumidifier stops working - or if it's draining wrong like this one - your humidity levels climb and you don't even know it.

When we install systems, we include monitoring so homeowners can see what's happening. They know if the humidity spikes. They know if something stops working. They can catch problems early instead of finding out years later when there's serious damage.

Small problems caught early are easy fixes. Small problems ignored for years become expensive disasters.



The equipment is only protecting your home if it's actually functioning. And the only way to know it's functioning is to check on it.

Mon - Fri: 7am to 7pm

Sat - Sun: Closed