On a Sellers 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 Sellers 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 Dillon 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.
Sellers at a glance
| County | Dillon County |
|---|---|
| ZIP | 29592 |
| Elevation | about 82 ft |
| Region | Lowcountry and coastal plain |
Named water nearby
- Grassy Bay (bay)
- the Poccosin Swamp (stream)
- Gum Swamp (swamp)
- the Cud Swamp (stream)
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
Included as standard on Sellers jobs:
- 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
A crawl space problem in Sellers is not self-limiting. The conditions that created it are still there, and they are still working.
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 Sellers: common questions
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 Grassy Bay, drainage comes first or the sheeting simply floats on it.
There is already plastic under my Sellers house. Is that enough?
Often not. Most of what we find has been laid loose, has torn, or was never sealed at the seams and walls. Unsealed sheeting performs much closer to bare soil than to a finished barrier.
My house is near Grassy Bay. Does that change anything?
It can. Being close to Grassy Bay usually means a higher water table and a longer wet season under the floor, so drainage and a properly sealed barrier matter more here than they would further from 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 Grassy Bay and the low ground around Sellers tend to need drainage as well as a barrier.
Do you work outside Sellers itself?
Yes. We cover Dillon County broadly, including Latta, Marion and Dillon, and the rest of the Lowcountry and coastal plain of South Carolina.
What is the difference between a vapor barrier and encapsulation?
A vapor barrier covers the soil and stops ground moisture evaporating into the space. Encapsulation goes further — ground, walls and usually the vents are sealed and the space is brought inside the building envelope, normally with a dehumidifier to control humidity directly. Encapsulation does more and costs more.
Vapor barrier near Sellers
We cover Sellers and the surrounding part of Dillon County. The same service in nearby towns:
Other crawl space services in Sellers
Crawl Space Water Removal in Sellers
Standing water pumped and extracted from under the house, then the saturated material taken out.
Crawl Space Structural Drying in Sellers
Joists, girders and subfloor dried back to a measured target with air movers and dehumidification.
Crawl Space Mold Remediation in Sellers
Contained removal of mold-affected material, HEPA cleaning, and the moisture source shut off.
Crawl Space Drainage and Sump Pump Installation in Sellers
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 Sellers
Rotted joists, girders, rim joists and subfloor sections repaired or replaced once the space is dry.
Or see everything we cover in our Sellers service area, and how this service works across the state on the South Carolina page.
Crawl Space Vapor Barrier Installation in Sellers
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.