DIY Crawl Space Encapsulation on a Budget: Day 4 - Fasten Walls And Lay Floor

Supplies:

• Hammer drill
• 1/4" masonry bit
• Crawl Space Foundation Pins
• Rubber mallet
• Retractable safety knife

This is the part of the process that I was most nervous about. First of all, a cordless hammer drill is an expensive piece of equipment. Second, they have a lot of power. Third, I would be putting 70 holes in my foundation with this thing. I ended up getting a very used Hilti TE 10 Rotary Hammer Drill for $50 at a pawn shop. I was shocked at how easy this thing was to use. In fact, I had those 70 holes drilled and the walls fastened in place with the foundation pins in less than an hour.

I began at the far end of the crawl space and drilled holes every two feet at the top of the vapor barrier along the foundation tape. I fastened each corner with two pins, one pin on each wall about one foot from the corner. I tapped the pins in with a rubber mallet.


Laying the floor was difficult because of the size of the sheets (13' x 45') and the fact that I was working alone. I rolled the first sheet to the far corner of the crawl space and unrolled it. The vapor barrier was folded in half, so after I unrolled it, I had to unfold it.

I went through the same steps with the other sheet on the opposite side of the crawl space. In addition to unrolling and unfolding, I also had to cut the vapor barrier so that I could later seal it around the piers.