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Welcome to the volunteer router pace podcast with your host, Mike Stewart and our pest expert, Eric Gardner of volunteer Ritter pest for Cleveland, Tennessee and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Eric, are you here on the show today?
0:16
I am here and ready to go? Well, you know, we’ve got an interesting thing that I’ve got some questions about, and I want you to answer them in detail. I know that nowadays that you are doing
crawlspace encapsulation. And I’d like you to talk about exactly what does that really mean? And, you know, what are the problems that crawlspace encapsulation solves? A lot of folks, you know, may not even know that it’s a serious problem, and the problems that it could cause for their family and their homes. So why don’t you tell us, you know, what is it, why it’s important, and why we should call you to have it done sooner than life?
Well, as you know, Mike, I’ve been in the Termite and Pest Control industry for 37 years. And I’ve crawled under literally thousands of crawl spaces in that time. And I’m gonna say probably 90% of them are too wet, they have too much moisture, the wood, many times has fungus growing on it, it has mold and mildew spores that are, you know, floating around in the air. And it’s just an unhealthy environment, and it’s just right under your feet. And, you know, not only is it damaging the wood that can cost you thousands of dollars to repair. But it also is letting those mildew and molds, fungal spores up into your home that come up through little cracks and crevices are drawn into the home by your heating and cooling system. And it’s just a bad environment under there. And so I’ve tried to find for years how to help people with that. And we have found the solution is called crawlspace encapsulation. And what that is we use a thick membrane of plastic usually, anywhere from 12 to 15, we found 15 is the most cost effective to use and it very durable. And so it’s 15 mil plastic, it’s really thick, and we adhere it to the walls, and we drape it down over the floor. And then we cover the entire floor of your crawlspace with this material. And it will prevent the infiltration of water from the outside, it stops the flow of moisture that condenses on the wood and the insulation. And in some cases, we install a dehumidifier that completely dries out the crawlspace. And it just changed the environment completely, we can treat for the fungus and remove it and then create this clean, bright environment in your crawlspace, we can add additional lighting, and you can even store things under there. Whereas now if you do that, they’re going to be destroyed by the high moisture rate in the water that may enter. So it just creates a different environment in your crawlspace and also increases your property value. So there’s a lot of good things about a crawlspace encapsulation.
So what do you guys do different? And why should somebody get in touch with you? And what’s the name of your encapsulation system? And just let people know why they should call you to to have the service done. And, you know, and what are you willing to do for folks in Chattanooga and Cleveland, that will help them determine that this is a wise decision to get crawlspace encapsulation?
Well, the number one thing we’ve been in the tournament bass control business for, like I said, We’ve been in business has been in business for 50 years, I’ve been in it for 37 years, and we’ve been around a long time. That’s not encapsulation is not all we do. The reason that’s important, because we might be able to solve your moisture issue with something else that doesn’t cost very much. I mean, you may have a minor problem, you need a minor solution. And we’re going to give you that a lot of companies if all they do is encapsulation, that’s always the cure for your problem. Even if it’s really not, that’s what they say, Oh, that’s what they’re gonna do. We only will sell you an encapsulation if that’s what we feel you need to solve the problem. If we feel additional foundation vents will solve it, we can do that. If we feel that all you need is a traditional vapor barrier, we can do that. But if you have water that’s infiltrating from the outside if you have a subgrade crawlspace, which means that the floor of the crawlspace is lower than the outside grade, and you have water that leeches through your block wall, then you’re a good candidate for encapsulation. But that’s that’s the thing about it. A lot of times when houses change hands now, the new owners are demanding and encapsulation. If your home already has one that gives you a leg up on other homes that are on the market, you can get your home so quicker and for more money.
So what are the next steps and what kind of things can you do for homeowners in Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tennessee when it comes to encapsulation
can make, you know, how do they get in touch with you? And what will you do? Do you do a free inspection, tell us more about that, you can just give us a call at 6987205, we’d be happy to come out, take a look at your crawlspace we’ll take photos, we’ll take some measurements, and wood moisture content ratings, we use a moisture meter. And we can tell how wet your crawlspace is, which is a big determining factor of how serious the problem is. If it’s 15% or less, then you probably don’t have an issue, you’re probably in good shape. If it’s 15% or higher, then steps need to be made taken rather to bring the moisture level down and get get the place dried out and cleaned up. And if you have wood decay fungus or mold already growing into there, then we need to take steps to remove that and get rid of that because it can be dangerous. You know, not all mold is dangerous. But there are some that are. And we want to make sure you don’t have that going on in your crawlspace. But yeah, we do a free evaluation will come check it out. Take photos that way you don’t have to go into there, we’ll show you what’s going on. And then we can determine the best way to move forward. We offer financing so it makes it affordable for anyone. And like I said it will make your home easier to sell and more valuable down the road.
6:17
Well, that’s awesome news. You know, if you’re a home owner, this is something you shouldn’t ignore. And all you got to do is call Eric Gardner at 423-698-7205. or go to the website dedicated to this. It’s real easy to remember Chattanooga crawlspace encapsulation. It may be a big word, but it’s a big problem that you definitely want to solve and Eric is the expert to do it. He knows crawlspaces because he’s been in a lot of them. And when he sees these problems, they know what to do to fix it. Mike Stewart for the volunteer Raider pest podcast and also now Chattanooga Crawlspace Encapsulation.com
