On a Myrtle Beach job, crawl Space Vapor Barrier Installation follows from the inspection rather than preceding it — there is no point specifying this work before the source of the water is known.
Bare soil under the house is evaporating moisture into the space every day.
Vapor barrier on lowcountry and coastal plain ground
A barrier earns its keep faster around Myrtle Beach than almost anywhere. With the water table close to the surface the soil underneath is damp more or less permanently, so an uncovered crawl space floor is evaporating into the space every day of the year.
Coastal Horry County humidity is the other half of it. For much of the year the outside air here is wetter than the crawl space, so any approach that relies on ventilation to finish the job works against itself.
Myrtle Beach at a glance
| County | Horry County |
|---|---|
| ZIP | 29577 |
| Elevation | about 26 ft |
| Region | Lowcountry and coastal plain |
Named water nearby
- Lewis Lake (lake)
- Dogwood Lake (reservoir)
- Myrtle Beach Lagoon (reservoir)
- Dick Pond (lake)
Signs you need this
- Bare soil anywhere on the crawl space floor
- Existing sheeting that is torn, bunched or not sealed at seams
- Barrier that stops short of the walls and piers
- Crawl space relative humidity holding above 60 percent
What the work involves
What we do on a Myrtle Beach job of this kind:
- Clearing and preparation of the crawl space floor
- Reinforced polyethylene barrier across the full soil area
- Overlapped and sealed seams
- Barrier carried up and sealed to walls and piers
Why it is worth dealing with now
The gap between a drying job and a structural repair in Myrtle Beach is usually measured in seasons, not years.
The full method and the step-by-step for this work is on the Crawl Space Vapor Barrier Installation page, and how it behaves across the state is on the Vapor barrier in South Carolina page.
Vapor barrier in Myrtle Beach: common questions
Barrier or full encapsulation for a Myrtle Beach home?
A barrier covers the ground and stops soil moisture. Encapsulation seals the walls and vents too and controls humidity directly. Which one your Horry County property needs should follow a humidity reading, not a preference.
Will a barrier stop water that is already getting in?
No. A barrier manages soil moisture and vapor, not liquid water under pressure. If water is entering the space near Lewis Lake, drainage comes first or the sheeting simply floats on it.
Does being close to the coast make this worse?
It raises the water table and lengthens the wet season, which is why homes near Lewis Lake and the low ground around Myrtle Beach tend to need drainage as well as a barrier.
Does storm flooding reach crawl spaces around Myrtle Beach?
Yes, and often with nothing visibly broken. After a tropical system the usual picture in Horry County is a saturated crawl space where the water came up through the ground rather than out of a pipe.
Why is my Myrtle Beach crawl space wet when nothing has leaked?
Near Myrtle Beach that is the normal pattern rather than the exception. At around 26 feet on the coastal plain, the water table sits close enough to the surface that soil under the house can be saturated with no pipe broken.
I already have plastic down there. Is that enough?
Often not. Most of the sheeting we find has been laid loose, has torn, has pulled away from the walls or was never sealed at the seams. Unsealed, incomplete sheeting lets ground moisture track around and through it, and performs much closer to bare soil than to a finished barrier.
Vapor barrier near Myrtle Beach
We cover Myrtle Beach and the surrounding part of Horry County. The same service in nearby towns:
Other crawl space services in Myrtle Beach
Crawl Space Water Removal in Myrtle Beach
Standing water pumped and extracted from under the house, then the saturated material taken out.
Crawl Space Structural Drying in Myrtle Beach
Joists, girders and subfloor dried back to a measured target with air movers and dehumidification.
Crawl Space Mold Remediation in Myrtle Beach
Contained removal of mold-affected material, HEPA cleaning, and the moisture source shut off.
Crawl Space Drainage and Sump Pump Installation in Myrtle Beach
Interior drainage to collect water, a sump and pump to lift it, and a discharge that takes it away.
Crawl Space Wood and Subfloor Repair in Myrtle Beach
Rotted joists, girders, rim joists and subfloor sections repaired or replaced once the space is dry.
Or see everything we cover in our Myrtle Beach service area, and how this service works across the state on the South Carolina page.
Crawl Space Vapor Barrier Installation in Myrtle Beach
Call (888) 724-1354 and tell us your street and what the space looks like. We will tell you whether this is the right stage to start at.
Tell us what you are seeing under the house and we will tell you what it needs.