Musty smell or bare, damp dirt under the floor? We fix the water first, then cover the ground wall to wall.
A crawl space vapor barrier in Las Cruces, NM is a sheet of plastic laid over the dirt under your house, and it slows the moisture rising out of the ground into the space under your floors.
A lot of crawl spaces we open up around here have bare dirt, torn old plastic or a cover that stops a few feet short of the walls. Moisture comes up out of that ground into the space under your floor, and that's usually where musty smells and damp wood start. Whether yours needs a cover, or needs repairs before one, is what I come out to look at.
Three things move the price. How big the crawl space is and how tight it is to work in, whether leaks or standing water have to be fixed first, and whether you want a plain ground cover or the vents closed and the space sealed. The schedule turns on those same repairs, plus any permit check. My written estimate lays out each step in order, so you can see what you're paying for.
The material itself is simple. Whether it does its job comes down to how much ground it covers, what the sheet is made of and what gets left underneath it.
The plastic slows vapor best when it covers all of the ground, not just the open middle. Our crew runs it up the foundation walls, piers and columns and fastens it there, and we lay it so the way water already drains through your crawl space keeps working.
Federal weatherization guidance sets a minimum thickness for the sheet and a limit on how much vapor can pass through it. That gives you a fair way to line up bids, so ask each contractor what plastic they're quoting and how thick it is.
Old plastic, soaked insulation, rodent droppings and trash shouldn't get buried under a new sheet, because the problem stays right where it was. I note what's down there at the estimate visit and put any cleanup in the written steps before the cover goes in.
Here's how a crawl space job runs with us, from your first call to the walk-through at the end. I'm the one you'll see at the start and at the finish.
Call (575) 222-9021 or send a request through our form. It helps to tell us roughly how big the crawl space is, whether it has vents, any standing water or leaks, and anything down there that burns fuel.
I come out myself, crawl the space and write down what I see, including anything that needs repair before plastic goes in. Your written estimate lays out each step in the order we'll do it.
Leaks and standing water get fixed first, and any permit the job needs is in place before we start. Once the space is clear and dry, our crew lays the plastic and fastens it at the walls and piers.
Before we pack up, I go over the finished cover myself, edge to edge, and look at the walls, piers and any repairs we made. If you want to see it, I'll walk you through what we did.
Standing water and leaks get fixed before any plastic goes down. Plastic over a wet spot only hides it, and the floor framing above keeps soaking up moisture. If I find a dripping pipe or water getting in from outside, it goes first in your written steps, and we don't lay the cover until the source is fixed and the water is gone.
A ground cover handles moisture coming up from the dirt, and it's one piece of the house. If other spots need plastic too, we do vapor barrier installation as well. Up top, attic air sealing closes the gaps that let your cooled air leak out. I'll tell you which of these matters most for your house, and in what order.
If you want the vents closed too, that's a bigger job than a ground cover. We look over the whole crawl space first, along with any fuel-burning equipment, like a furnace or water heater that draws its air from down there. If the space isn't ready for closed vents, I'll say so before we quote that part.
We cover the ground, run the plastic up the walls and piers, and your vents keep working as they do now. When the crawl space is dry and nothing down there burns fuel, this is usually where I'd start.
The vents get closed, the plastic is sealed and a dehumidifier keeps the air dry, a job usually called encapsulation. It costs more and needs the full crawl space check first, so it fits when moisture is the bigger problem.
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out myself for the free in-person estimate, look over your crawl space and write out each step of the job. There's no obligation to go ahead.
(575) 222-9021The City of Las Cruces reviews an application before it issues a permit for most building projects, and owners apply through the city's Citizen Portal. That doesn't tell you whether a ground cover by itself needs one, so I check with the office that covers your address before work starts. If the job needs a permit, we apply for it, set up the inspections and keep you posted on where it stands.
Much of Doña Ana County is sandy loam over hard caliche, and dry years crust the surface so it sheds water almost like pavement. When a hard storm does come, that runoff has to go somewhere, so I look at how water moves around your foundation. It matters for termites too, since damp crawl spaces, leaking plumbing and heavy landscaping against the foundation all give them a way in.
The county is rated moderate for radon, and the EPA recommends testing all homes, so a test is worth doing whether or not you add plastic. We're based in Las Cruces and do the same crawl space work in Chaparral, Anthony and other cities nearby.
I learned this trade under an old-school boss who made me tear out and redo anything that wasn't right. I started Prime Las Cruces Spray Foam Insulation in 2023 after years on his crews. I still do every estimate visit myself. Our crew does the work, and I run each job and check it before we leave.
New Mexico's Construction Industries Division requires a license for anyone who does or offers to do construction contracting. We're licensed and insured. The work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee. When you're ready for someone to crawl in and tell you plainly what's there, call (575) 222-9021 or send us a request.
Handy when other parts of the house need a sheet of plastic to slow moisture, not just the ground under the floor.
Worth a look if the upstairs runs hot or the power bill keeps climbing, because unsealed gaps up top let your cooled air slip out.
We're based in Las Cruces, NM and work across the cities around it, including Chaparral and Anthony in New Mexico and Canutillo, Texas. If you're nearby and don't see your city listed, call and ask.
Encapsulating a 1,500-square-foot crawl space with 12-mil vapor barrier and a dehumidifier usually runs about $4,600 to $8,600 per job in Las Cruces. That's a full sealed job, broader than a ground cover alone. Your own figure comes from the estimate visit, where I write out each step so you can see what you're paying for.
Only if your crawl space is closed off from outside air. Department of Energy guidance seals the seams and openings in the plastic in unvented crawl spaces, while in a vented one the sheets are overlapped at each seam. Knowing which kind you have tells you whether sealing belongs in your quote, and I'll tell you which you've got.
It can be, but not by sealing the vents and stopping there. Another federal guide warns that doing just that can raise the moisture under the house, and it can turn deadly if fuel-burning equipment down there gets its air through those vents. That guide is national and dates from 2013, so treat it as general advice, not local code.
Clear stored items and loose debris out of the crawl space so the plastic can reach every bit of ground. Make sure we can get to the access door, too. If something is too big or too heavy to move, tell me at the estimate visit and we'll plan the job around it.
Laying the plastic is usually the quicker part of the job. The schedule turns on what has to happen before it, such as leak repairs, a permit if the job needs one, or the safety check before any vents get closed. Your written estimate puts those steps in order so you can see what comes when.
Call (575) 222-9021 any day of the week from 7 AM to 10 PM, or send the form, and I'll come see what your crawl space needs before anything gets quoted.
