Ada County, Idaho
Crawl space repair in Boise
Boise has the widest range of crawl spaces in the valley. Some North End and East End houses are close to a hundred years old, with dirt floors, low clearance, and whatever plastic someone put down decades ago. Out on the Bench and in Southwest Boise, the houses are newer, but plenty are old enough that the builder’s original barrier has given out.
Irrigation canals cross a lot of the city, so the seasonal water pattern shows up here too. A house can be dry at a spring inspection and have water under it by August.
What we run into in Boise
Old, low crawl spaces
Tight clearance, old ductwork, and decades of debris in older neighborhoods. The work is slower and the cleanup matters more.
Builder plastic at the end of its life
Thin plastic from the original build, torn by every cable and HVAC tech who has been under there since.
Foothills runoff
Homes near the foothills can get water running toward the foundation after storms or snowmelt. That’s usually a grading and drainage fix before anything else.
A recent Boise job
[A real Boise job: neighborhood, what you found, what you did, one photo]Why it’s dry in March and wet in August.
From roughly April to October the canals run full for irrigation. In parts of Boise, that pushes the water table up, and it comes into the crawl space from underneath, not through the walls.
Exact dates vary by irrigation district and by year. So does how much it affects a given street.
What that means for you: a crawl space that looks fine at a spring inspection can have standing water by midsummer. If you put a new barrier down without handling that, the water ends up trapped under the plastic.
If yours is wet in summer and dry in winter, it’s probably groundwater, not a leak. That’s the first thing we check. Water removal and sump pumps
What we do in Boise
Selling a Boise home and the inspector flagged the crawl space? Here’s how home-sale repairs work.
Water removal and sump pumps
Pump it out, find where it comes from, and give it a permanent way out.
Call when: Standing water, wet dirt, or a pump that runs all summer.
Vapor barrier replacement
Pull the old plastic, fix what’s under it, and put down a barrier that’s sealed and fastened.
Call when: Torn, thin, or missing plastic, or an inspector’s note about the barrier.
Crawl space encapsulation
Sealed liner on the ground and walls, vents closed, and the air dried.
Call when: Repeat moisture, ductwork in the crawl space, or you want it done once.
Mold remediation
Clean and treat the framing, then fix whatever kept it wet.
Call when: Dark staining or growth on joists and subfloor, or a musty smell.
Crawl space insulation
New insulation under the floor or on the walls, with old, wet, or damaged insulation pulled out first.
Call when: Cold floors, no insulation at all, or batts hanging down, wet, or torn up by rodents.
Book an inspection in Boise
We’ll call you back [How soon you call back] to set a time.