Vent Wells and the Crawl Space Vapor Barrier

We want as few steps as possible to get into the cabin from the (future) carport. But that means the ground comes up pretty close to the foundation vents. The inspector decided it is too close, so we have to add Vent Wells.

We don’t need vent wells on all the vents, just on the ones at the top of the hill that are closest to the ground.

The vent is to allow air circulation. The well keeps water from flowing under the house through the vent and helps keep leaves from accumulating and blocking the vent.

The guys dug out the area in front of each vent. Then they put in a vent well. They back filled the outside with dirt and filled the inside with gravel. The gravel will let the vent well drain into the footing drains.

Footing Drains for the Little Pre-fab Cabin >

Crawl Space Vapor Barrier

When they finished the vent wells, they crawled under the house and spread out the vapor barrier.

We put a vapor barrier under the log cabin ourselves. There wasn’t one there when I bought it. But now it is required by the NC Building Code.

R409.2.1 Ground vapor retarder.

A minimum 6-mil (0.15 mm) polyethylene vapor retarder or equivalent shall be installed to nominally cover all exposed earth in the crawl space, with joints lapped not less than 12 inches (305 mm). Minor pockets or wrinkles that prevent total drainage across the surface of the vapor retarder are allowed. The floor of the crawl space shall be graded so that it drains to one or more low spots. Install a drain to daylight or sump pump at each low spot. Crawl space drains shall be kept separate from roof gutter drain systems and foundation perimeter drains.

Section R409 NC Building Code

A vapor barrier really is a good idea. It keeps moisture from the ground from coming up into the house.

A vapor barrier isn’t complicated.

It’s just sheet plastic that keeps the water in the soil from evaporating and coming into your house.

Exploring Under the Cabin

I crawled under the cabin to look around.

The whole floor is insulated and so are all of the pipes! We really are happy with Westwood Cabins, www.westwoodcabins.com.

So… still waiting for the water and sewer taps from the city. We were approved and we paid for them on March 4. That was over three weeks ago and seems even longer. The power company sent someone up to look at the site and take photos. There are three pedestals power can come from. It will be underground, so we don’t care.

Taylor just called. A guy will be coming out to give us an estimate on gutters. Taylor Fowler, Fowler Excavating has managed this whole project and kept it going.