I have what I believe is a tricky crawl space of an old 1907 home in Richmond, VA with a dirt floor. It is currently slightly vented with a 1" x 2" gap in the brick foundation every 8 feet apart or so.
The hard part is at the front of the home there is about 12" of space between the dirt floor and the floor joists but as you move toward the back of the home this space goes down to about 4" between dirt and floor joists for the last 1/4 or more (we live on a hill so the dirt floor follows the natural grade outside the house).
I would love to encapsulate but am not sure what it would take to be able to seal that last section. On the other hand, there is not much space to properly install insulation between floor joists. I have currently be sealing around the rim joists with rigid foam as much as I can.
I am wondering if sealing as best I can, putting down as much vapor barrier as I can (hopefully 10 mil wouldn't rip with me crawling around on my stomach everywhere), and possibly dehumidifying (it is currently around 73% humidity in there) would be of any benefit or whether that may just cause more problems and I am better to insulate between floor joists with rigid foam where I can and give up the rest as a lost cause.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
The hard part is at the front of the home there is about 12" of space between the dirt floor and the floor joists but as you move toward the back of the home this space goes down to about 4" between dirt and floor joists for the last 1/4 or more (we live on a hill so the dirt floor follows the natural grade outside the house).
I would love to encapsulate but am not sure what it would take to be able to seal that last section. On the other hand, there is not much space to properly install insulation between floor joists. I have currently be sealing around the rim joists with rigid foam as much as I can.
I am wondering if sealing as best I can, putting down as much vapor barrier as I can (hopefully 10 mil wouldn't rip with me crawling around on my stomach everywhere), and possibly dehumidifying (it is currently around 73% humidity in there) would be of any benefit or whether that may just cause more problems and I am better to insulate between floor joists with rigid foam where I can and give up the rest as a lost cause.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!