Crawl space repair. Restore stability. Remove moisture.
No payment until you're satisfied.
A neglected crawl space can lead to sagging floors, mold, and serious structural damage. Our custom crawl space repair solutions target the root causes, like moisture, wood rot, and air leaks, so your home stays safe and solid from the ground up. From encapsulation to structural supports, we build long-term solutions backed by a satisfaction-first promise.
Crawl space repair isn't just throwing in a dehumidifier
It's a complete strategy to restore your home's foundation, air quality, and energy efficiency. At Michaelis Foundation Solutions, we combine encapsulation, vapor barriers, structural supports, and drainage improvements to fix the problem at its source.
A damaged crawl space can lead to buckling floors, musty smells, sky-high energy bills, and dangerous mold. Left untreated, it affects your home's safety and your family's health.
We handle everything from wet crawl spaces to wood rot and sagging floors. Our experts create custom solutions using proven systems—so your crawl space becomes a sealed, dry, and stable foundation for your entire home.
Our 3-step crawl space inspection
Every crawl space repair starts with a free, detailed inspection so you can understand exactly what's wrong and how we'll fix it, no guesswork, no pressure.
Initial conversation
We discuss your concerns, like sagging floors, odors, or standing water, and gather your home's history.
Free crawl space inspection
We perform a full visual inspection using moisture meters, lasers, and lights, documenting structural damage, humidity levels, and potential mold.
Custom repair plan
We walk you through every finding with photos and diagrams, then build a repair plan tailored to your space, needs, and budget.
French Drain System
Where a crawl space takes on standing water, sealing comes second and drainage comes first. We cut in perforated drain tile below grade, bed it in washed stone, and run it to a sealed sump so groundwater has somewhere to go. Encapsulating over active water traps the problem instead of solving it — so we move the water out before anything gets sealed.
- Interior drainage where water collects
- Sealed sump basin and pump, discharged away from the house
- Grading and downspout issues flagged in the report
Can you waterproof a crawl space?
Absolutely. We offer complete crawl space waterproofing, including drainage systems, vapor barriers, and sump pump solutions.
See the basement versionEncapsulation
Encapsulation means sealing the crawl space from outside moisture using vapor barriers across floors and walls. It helps control humidity, prevents mold, and stabilizes the environment. In practice that means clearing the space, correcting drainage, replacing failed supports, sealing the floor and walls with a heavy liner, closing the vents and penetrations, and setting a properly sized dehumidifier.
Done fully, the musty smell goes away, the floors firm up, HVAC works less, and the space becomes usable instead of avoided.
Vapor Barrier
Bare dirt under a house evaporates moisture into the framing above it every single day. A vapor barrier stops that transfer at the ground. The difference between a barrier that works and one that doesn't is thickness, overlap and termination: a heavy reinforced liner, seams sealed, run up the walls and around the piers, mechanically fastened — not a thin sheet loose-laid over the dirt.
A vapor barrier alone helps, and it's also part of radon mitigation — but in a space with active water or high humidity it works as one piece of a full encapsulation, not a substitute for it.
Heavy reinforced liner
Puncture-resistant material rated for crawl space service, not construction-grade poly.
Sealed seams and terminations
Overlapped and taped, run up the walls and sealed around every pier and penetration.
Works with radon mitigation
The sealed soil surface is what lets a sub-membrane radon system actually pull.
Uneven Floor
Why is my floor sagging above the crawl space? This usually points to wood rot, humidity damage, or weakened joists and supports caused by moisture. Our inspection will identify exactly where the problem lies — we shoot elevations with a laser, check every support, and map where the floor has dropped and by how much.
The repair restores support rather than hiding the symptom: failed posts and piers replaced, adjustable steel jacks and supplemental beams set on proper footings, damaged joists sistered or replaced, then a controlled lift back toward level. Yes, uneven floors can be fixed — we stabilize the structure and level the flooring.
Dehumidifier
Should I install a dehumidifier in my crawl space? In most cases, yes. Dehumidifiers are essential for maintaining healthy humidity levels, especially in encapsulated crawl spaces. Sealing removes most of the moisture load, but Indiana summers still push humidity up — and a properly sized unit is what holds the space in range through August and after heavy rain.
We size the unit to the volume of your space, hard-plumb the condensate line so there's no bucket to empty, and set a humidistat so it runs on humidity rather than a timer. It appears as its own line item on your quote — never a surprise.
What controlled humidity gets you
- Mold can't establish or spread
- Wood stops absorbing moisture and rotting
- Musty odor stops migrating upstairs
- HVAC stops fighting humid air under the floor
Wood Rot
Moisture can rot floor joists, shift supports, and damage your foundation. Proper repair stops damage at the source. Rot doesn't reverse — the wood has lost strength permanently — so the work is replacement and reinforcement, not treatment alone: rim joists, band boards, joist ends, sill plates and posts, whatever the moisture reached.
Then we cut off the water and humidity that caused it. Repairing rot in a space that stays wet just resets the clock — which is why rot repair and encapsulation almost always appear on the same quote.
Is mold in a crawl space dangerous?
Yes—crawl space mold can circulate through your home's HVAC system and impact your family's health. Removing it safely and fixing the moisture source is key.
Mold remediationWhy choose crawl space repair
Protect your home's structure
Moisture can rot floor joists, shift supports, and damage your foundation. Proper repair stops damage at the source.
Improve indoor air quality
Sealing off mold, dust, and allergens below your home means cleaner air inside it.
Prevent pest infestation
Dry, sealed crawl spaces deter rodents, insects, and termites.
Lower energy bills
Crawl spaces affect HVAC efficiency. Repairing and insulating them can reduce heat loss and improve system performance.
Create usable, healthy space
No more musty smells or wasted space. Your crawl space becomes clean, dry, and usable again.
Common questions
Why is my floor sagging above the crawl space?
This usually points to wood rot, humidity damage, or weakened joists and supports caused by moisture. Our inspection will identify exactly where the problem lies.
What is crawl space encapsulation?
Encapsulation means sealing the crawl space from outside moisture using vapor barriers across floors and walls. It helps control humidity, prevents mold, and stabilizes the environment.
Is mold in a crawl space dangerous?
Yes—crawl space mold can circulate through your home's HVAC system and impact your family's health. Removing it safely and fixing the moisture source is key.
Should I install a dehumidifier in my crawl space?
In most cases, yes. Dehumidifiers are essential for maintaining healthy humidity levels, especially in encapsulated crawl spaces.
Can you waterproof a crawl space?
Absolutely. We offer complete crawl space waterproofing, including drainage systems, vapor barriers, and sump pump solutions.