Crawl Space
Crawl space encapsulation on a Pleasant View hillside
Pleasant View, TNCheatham CountyResidential2026-05-06
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The problem
Standing water and sagging insulation under a 1990s home — cleaned, drained, sealed and dried out.
What the homeowner noticed
The house smelled musty all summer and the hardwood floor in the hallway had started to cup. The air conditioner ran constantly.
What Marty found
Standing water across roughly a third of the crawl space floor, fallen and saturated insulation, and visible moisture staining on the floor joists. A disconnected condensate drain line was adding water year round on top of the hillside runoff.
What we recommended
Repair the drain line, install a drainage channel and sump at the low corner, remove and replace the insulation, and fully encapsulate the space with a sealed vapor barrier and a dehumidifier.
The result
The plumbing leak was repaired, a perimeter drain and sump pump were installed at the low side, the old insulation was removed and disposed of, and the entire floor and walls were sealed with a reinforced vapor barrier. A commercial-grade dehumidifier was installed with a drain line.
Why this happens
A vented crawl space made sense in an era of cheap energy and no air conditioning. In a Tennessee summer, it does the opposite of what you want: humid outside air comes in, hits the cooler surfaces under the house and condenses.
Sealing the space and controlling humidity instead keeps the wood framing dry. In this case the homeowner also reported their summer power bill dropped noticeably, which is typical — the air conditioner stops fighting a permanently damp floor.
See something that doesn't look right?
Send Marty a picture.
Crack in the brick? Uneven floor? Water in the crawl space? Sinking concrete? Send a few photos and tell Marty what you're seeing. No pressure — just a straight answer from someone local.
