Crawlspace Insulation
in Salmon River, BC

The Salmon River area in eastern Langley Township is rural agricultural land with scattered residential development, centred around the Salmon River itself and the network of drainage ditches and creeks that manage water flow across the floodplain. Properties in this area are predominantly on larger rural lots, and the crawlspace challenges are shaped by the agricultural character of the land — rich, organic soils with high moisture-holding capacity, periodic flooding from the river system, and drainage infrastructure designed primarily for agricultural use.

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.