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Community and Q&A

Installation of Vapor Barrier

GBA Editor | Posted in GBA Pro Help on

Can anyone tell me how a vapor barrier is installed? I am a 63 yr old lady who purchased a doublewide put on a concrete foundation, and the crawl space if full of dirt. The man who contracted to prepare the foundation, said your put dirt on it to hold the plastic in place. Someone dug 14″ and found no plastic. I paid $1500.00 for a vapor barrier that I’m sure I don’t have.
When I posed this to him, he said “the building inspector passed it, didn’t he?” Thsi is true, but I don’t think the building inspector even went down there, and I believe I paid dearly for something I didn’t get.
Can someone enlighten me please? THANK YOU!

Sydney
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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | | #1

    Sydney,
    I'm sorry to hear you were victimized. It sounds like you paid for something that was never installed. Typically, a polyethylene vapor barrier is installed on the bare dirt of a crawl space and is left exposed or held down by a few bricks or rocks. Occasionally it might be covered with clean sand, but if so, only an inch or two of sand.

    You should continue to telephone the person who claimed to have installed the vapor barrier and insist that he come back and perform the work. If he refuses, contact the Better Business Bureau and the consumer protection department of your state attorney general's office. You should also consider filing a claim against the contractor in small claims court.

  2. Sydney | | #2

    Thank you soooo much. Can you tell me your occupation/credentials and how you know this? Or, where I can find something in print that I could use in court? A DIY book perhaps? I tried DIY web site, but only an online video there.
    Thank you again!

  3. Robert Riversong | | #3

    Sydney,

    You're going to make Martin blush. He certainly has the "credentials" to offer such advice, and any qualified builder will tell you the same thing. What you need is to get a local building inspection service to check out your crawl space and give you a report in writing. That will give you the substantiation you need to either put pressure on the foundation contractor, to initiate complaints, or to engage in a small claims action.

  4. Sydney | | #4

    If my SS was more than $944.35/month, I could do that.......

  5. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | | #5

    Sydney,
    A very quick Web search resulted in these Web sites that answer your question:

    http://www.rd.com/your-home/ask-the-handyman/how-to-install-a-vapor-barrier-in-the-crawlspace/article17606.html

    http://www.ehow.com/how_2087289_install-vapor-retarder-crawl-space.html

    http://www.therestorationresource.com/Crawl_Space_Moisture_Barriers_How_to_do_it_yourself.html

    I'm sure that if you spend a little time Googling "crawlspace vapor barrier" you can find more such advice.

  6. Sydney | | #6

    THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

  7. gradyreynolds | | #7

    Don't forget the building department. Inspectors are a breed of their own: some will count every nail on a house and some will sign-off on the permit without ever leaving the curb. I personally treat them all with respect whether they deserve it or not (contractors know the consequences of being argumentative). I rountinely see and hear of neglectful inspections, arbitrary interpretations, and incompetence. I realize this is a rant, but building department officials are vested with the awesome responsibility of protecting the public from substandard and unscrupulous building practitioners. That said, I also find many of them to be consummate professionals preforming a thankless job. With regards to the plastic (of which this inquiry was really about), with the information given, I would get a second opinion on the price. It seems pretty high especially if it was supposed to be installed before the trailer was set. I would also check in a few other places to see if the coverage was incomplete, althoug it soulds like the contractor indirectly admitted to not installing it with his comment about passing inspection. Good luck Sydney and remember that most builders and comtractors take pride in their work.

  8. Sydney | | #8

    This are is notorious (as I have since learned) for nothing but crooks. No licencing is required, so I can place an ad and claim to be a contractor in any particular stage of construction or all of them. Another contractor ran off with $6,500 of my money leaving me with pile (like ready to burn) of sub-standard, warped lumber! That's the next lawsuit in small claims court.....
    Needless to say, I am planning to move and am getting the house "designed to sell," but I know that crawl space won't pass FHA.

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