Call or send the form
Call (507) 512-1787 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. It helps to mention whether the crawl space has vents, whether a furnace or water heater lives down there, and any mold you've seen.
Crawl space insulation in Rochester MN - warmer floors over a sealed, dry crawl space
Cold floors and a musty smell from under the house? We check the crawl space, then seal and insulate it so the floors warm up.
Why are the floors cold over my crawl space?
Crawl space insulation in Rochester, MN means air sealing and insulating the space under your house, usually on the crawl space walls, so it becomes part of the house and the floors, pipes and any ducts down there sit somewhere sealed and insulated instead of open to the cold.
Most of these calls start upstairs, with a kitchen floor that's cold through your socks, a pipe that froze last winter or a musty smell near the hatch. In a lived-in house the crawl space is usually where the surprises are, so I want to know what's down there before we talk about insulation.
The price turns on the size of the space, whether we insulate the walls or the floor, and what I find, like standing water, mold or a gas appliance that needs its own plan. The schedule turns on the same things, since a mold specialist goes first when there's mold and any permit has to be sorted before we start. My written estimate gives you the plan and the number for your house.
What happens when you call about your crawl space?
You'll deal with me for the estimate and our install crew for the work, and it runs in this order.
I go down there for the estimate
I've run this business since 2017, and I still do every estimate myself. I look for air leaks, water, mold and anything else that changes the plan, then write it up so you can see what we'd do and why.
Our crew installs, I check what gets covered
Once you say yes, our install crew does the prep, the sealing and the insulation, and I'm on the job to check the parts that end up out of sight. We're licensed and insured. Before we leave, we walk you through what we did.
What our crawl space insulation work covers
Closing up a crawl space takes more than shutting the vents, so the first things I look at are the moisture and any gas appliance down there, because sealing the space changes how both behave. If there's mold, a mold specialist deals with it before we start. Foam over mold doesn't fix it. It just tucks it in. Once the space is dry and safe to close, we seal the air leaks and insulate the walls or the floor above, whichever suits your house.
Cold floors are often only part of it. If the rooms upstairs feel drafty too, our air sealing services close the gaps in the rest of the house, and wall insulation takes care of outside walls that never got enough.
- Check for moisture, standing water and mold before anything else
- Look at any furnace, water heater or other gas appliance in the space
- Seal gaps around pipes, wires and the framing on top of the foundation
- Insulate the crawl space walls or the floor above, depending on your house
- Clean up so the house looks lived in, not worked on
How the work goes once we're there
Down there the order matters more than the material, so we keep it in this order.
Protect the house on the way in
We need a clear path to the crawl space access, so it helps to move anything stored in front of it. We cover the floors along our route, because someone lives here and it should still look that way when we leave.
Cover the ground
Bare dirt keeps giving off damp, so the floor usually gets a vapor retarder, a heavy plastic sheet that slows moisture, run up onto the walls. Any standing water gets sorted out first, or we'd just be sealing in a puddle.
Seal the gaps
Next we close the openings where outside air gets in, around pipes, wires and the rim, the band of framing that sits on the foundation. Insulation with a draft blowing past it is mostly decoration.
Insulate and cover the foam
Rigid foam goes on the walls, or insulation goes in the floor above if that's the plan for your house. Some foam can give off toxic or flammable gases when heated, so most codes call for a covering such as drywall over it, and we include that where it applies.
Get a written plan for your crawl space
Send the form with a line about your crawl space, and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. I come out, go down there and write up a free on-site estimate. There's no pressure and no obligation.
(507) 512-1787Crawl space questions we hear in Rochester
Should I insulate the crawl space walls or the floor above it?
Usually the walls, since national energy guidance calls sealing and insulating crawl space walls a best practice in every climate. In some homes the floor above is the better place, and a floor over an unheated crawl space can lose a lot of heat and stay cold either way. I look at your ducts, pipes and vents before I recommend one.
Can I just close my crawl space vents in the winter?
Not by themselves. Closing the vents alone can raise the moisture down there, and if a gas furnace or water heater in the crawl space vents on its own draft, it can create a deadly situation. That's why the moisture and the equipment are the first things I check.
How much does crawl space insulation cost in Rochester?
Insulating a crawl space in Rochester usually costs about $1,600 to $7,300 per job. That's the going range for the whole job around here, not our price, and where yours lands depends on what I find down there. Our promise is the same at any size. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Do I need a permit or a licensed contractor for crawl space insulation in Rochester?
Rochester requires residential building contractors to be licensed with the State of Minnesota, and if you do work yourself on a single-family home, the city puts getting the permits on you. The city's Community Development Department has permit guides and takes calls at 507-328-2600. When we do the job, we check with the city or county office that covers your address first, and if our part needs a permit, we take care of it.
Crawl spaces in Rochester and the cities around it
If a crawl space goes from unheated to heated and becomes part of the house, Minnesota's energy code says the changed space has to meet the code in full, so we plan the whole space, not just the walls. We see plenty of block foundations here, and when block walls get insulation on the inside, the code wants each block core to drain to an approved drainage system inside, which is worth sorting out before any foam goes up.
If radon is on your mind, the city's building permits page points to free radon test kits from Olmsted County Public Health. We're based in Rochester and do the same work in Byron, Stewartville, Kasson and other cities around it.
Call before you close those vents
We pick up until 11 PM on weekdays, so call (507) 512-1787 after work or send the form whenever it suits you.
If you've got a cold floor and a crawl space you'd rather not look at, send us a note and I'll go down there for you.
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