A crawl space vapor barrier is the main character in your crawl space encapsulation story. The vapor barrier allows the foundation vents to be sealed permanently keeping the outside, out. This is accomplished by creating a barrier between the moist soil and the homes structure. The foundation vents were suppose to play a role with similar outcomes. The vents, were thought to, allow the moisture evaporating from the earth to escape to the outdoors. However, the foundation vents actually let in more moisture than they let out, this is why Crawl Space Encapsulation® is so important. By sealing the ground moisture from evaporating into the air, we can successfully seal the foundation vents and improve the environment under the house.

You most certainly can—it’s your home. Besides considering the cost of hiring a professional company to install your vapor barrier, you should also look at who will maintain it. If you are able bodied and good with your hands you can probably take on that responsibility. However, consider when you sell your home with a properly installed vapor barrier that is maintained by a quality company, that might be more valuable to the next owner and make your home sell easier and for a bit more. When a home passes from one owner to another there are often many questions about the home once the new owner moves in. Having that part of your home under a service agreement can be appealing. When you purchase your next home, do you want to know the crawl space repair work was done to standard and maintained?

The best answer to this is, you need the one that will give you the longest service life for your investment. Durability comes from the quality and thickness of the vapor barrier. SilverBack® is twice the thickness of most all 12 mil products on the market because they are named “12 Mil” but very often measure only 10 Mil. This is called nominal thickness or “in name only”. In a product where service life is directly related to the durability and that is directly linked to the thickness, be cautious in choosing a product named the thickness you need rather than what it actually measures.

SilverBack® actually measures 20 Mils thick on the plastic. The SR model uses 110 pounds of polyethylene resin to make 1000 square feet of vapor barrier. So you can expect the 13’4″ x 75′ roll to be just over 110 pounds. The HS model is made differently and uses 77 pounds of polyethylene per 1000 square feet. The method we use to manufacture the HS makes the vapor barrier lighter and easier to handle while giving it unmatched puncture and tear strength.