Crawlspace Insulation
in Clayburn Village, BC

Clayburn Village is a remarkably well-preserved historic company town from the early 20th century, built to house workers at the nearby Clayburn brick and tile works. The village has been designated as a heritage area, and the original brick buildings and homes represent an important piece of BC industrial and social history. Working in Clayburn requires careful attention to the historic fabric of the buildings, as the construction methods and materials are quite different from modern residential practice.

The majority of homes in Surrey and the surrounding communities built before 2000 have fiberglass batt insulation installed between the floor joists in the crawlspace. When this insulation was new and dry, it provided reasonable thermal resistance. The problem is that fiberglass batts installed in a vented crawlspace environment in a high-rainfall climate like ours rarely stay dry. They absorb ambient moisture, sag out of their cavities, and gradually collapse onto the ground. Wet fiberglass insulation has essentially zero R-value, adds weight that can pull down on vapor barriers or staples, and provides a hospitable nesting environment for rodents.

For crawlspaces that are not being fully encapsulated, we install new unfaced fiberglass batts or mineral wool between the joists, but only after addressing the moisture conditions that destroyed the previous insulation. Installing fresh batts into a still-damp crawlspace environment means you'll be back in the same situation within a few years. Proper sequencing matters: drainage, vapor barrier, then insulation.