Cleanout, rodent sealing and new vapor barrier
Crawl Space Cleaning in Lake Stevens, WA
Most houses around the lake sit over a crawl space, and the plastic down there was usually laid when the house was built. If the house smells musty, the floors run cold or rats have been underneath, we clean it out, seal it up and put down a new vapor barrier as one job.
5.0 from 64 Google reviews. Family-owned and based in Lake Stevens.
Free Lake Stevens Crawl Space Quote
Step 1 of 2Photo: brewbooks, CC BY-SA 2.0
Why Crawl Spaces Near the Lake Stay Damp
Lake Stevens is built around the water and up the slopes on every side of it. On a lot that runs down toward the lake, the crawl space on the low side sits in wetter ground than the rest of the house, and through the rainy months the soil under it stays wet.
Bare soil gives off moisture constantly. A good vapor barrier stops it at the floor of the crawl space. A torn one, or plastic that has slid into piles, lets it rise into the joists, the subfloor and the insulation, which is where the musty smell comes from. Damp wood is also what carpenter ants look for.
Water sitting on top of the plastic, like in the photo, means the water source needs fixing before new barrier goes down. Gutters, downspouts and grading are the usual suspects, and we will tell you what we see.
Lake Stevens Homes From the 1990s and 2000s Are Due
A large share of the houses in Lake Stevens went up in the 1990s and 2000s. A crawl space vapor barrier usually lasts 10 to 15 years in a Northwest crawl space, and less when foot traffic, rodents or settling have torn it up.
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Built in 1995
Barrier due 2005 to 2010
Original barrier is 31 years old in 2026
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Built in 2005
Barrier due 2015 to 2020
Original barrier is 21 years old in 2026
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Built in 2012
Barrier due 2022 to 2027
Original barrier is 14 years old in 2026
If you have never had the plastic replaced, it is very likely the original. That alone does not mean it has failed, but it is worth a look, and we will show you photos of what is down there.
Signs Your Crawl Space Needs Cleaning
- A musty smell on the main floor, worst when the furnace runs.
- Floors that feel cold, or rooms over the crawl space that never warm up.
- Droppings or chewed plastic at the crawl space hatch.
- Scratching or movement under the floor at night.
- Plastic that is torn, pushed into piles, or has water sitting on it.
- Insulation hanging down between the joists.
Rats under the floor and a ruined crawl space usually go together. If that is where you are, start with rodent control in Lake Stevens and the signs of rats in a crawl space.
Crawl Space Cleaning in Lake Stevens, Start to Finish
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01
We go under the house first
We crawl the whole footprint with a light and a camera and show you what we found: the condition of the barrier and insulation, any droppings, standing water, and every opening a rodent could use.
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02
Haul it out and seal it
Old plastic, soiled insulation, droppings and construction debris get bagged and hauled away. Vents get screened, and gaps at the rim joist and around pipes get closed with hardware cloth and metal.
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03
New barrier, edge to edge
New 6-mil vapor barrier goes down across the whole floor, overlapped at the seams and run up the foundation walls, with insulation replaced where it needs it. Most jobs take one to two days, and you get photos of the finished space.
Doing the cleanout, the sealing and the barrier in one trip is the point: new plastic over open vents just gives the next rat a fresh sheet to tear up. More detail on the crawl space vapor barrier service. Brian holds WSDA applicator license #112338.
5.0 from 64 Google reviews
What Customers Say About Our Crawl Space Work
"We appreciate what you did in our crawl space. My husband is in commercial construction and was impressed with how well and how quick your team did the job under our house! Thank you."
"I was having a problem with rats and mice. I called so many places. I live in Lake Stevens. Pure Guard worked with me. The price is low. They set me up quickly. Would highly recommend! Thank you."
"We were in need of immediate local service, since I woke up hearing scratching in my wall. I knew it wasn't good. I am super thankful for the care and concern that was given to me by the owner (who's amazing by the way), very knowledgeable, honest and very fair price. So much so that I dropped Orkin and signed up with these guys due to the low price I got quoted. When the tech showed up, he put me at ease, very knowledgeable young man, and answered all my questions and concerns. By that same night one of the traps that was laid down had caught the little bugger in my wall. I'm thankful for the quick reply and how quickly someone came out to help us. They even came back to retrieve the critter. I appreciate honesty, it's hard to come by these days. So thank you!"
Questions, answered
Lake Stevens Crawl Space Questions
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How Do I Know If My Lake Stevens Crawl Space Needs Cleaning?
- A musty smell, cold floors, droppings at the hatch or noise under the floor are the usual signs. If the house was built in the 1990s or 2000s and nobody has replaced the plastic since, it is past the 10 to 15 years a barrier usually lasts. If rats have been under the house at all, the barrier and insulation they lived on need to come out.
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There Is Water Sitting on My Crawl Space Plastic. What Now?
- Find where the water is coming from before anything else. Downspouts emptying against the foundation and ground that slopes toward the house are common causes on lots that run down to the lake. New plastic over a wet floor will not stay dry, so we note any standing water on the first visit and tell you what we see before quoting the barrier.
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Is This the Same as Crawl Space Encapsulation?
- No. Encapsulation seals the crawl space into a conditioned space, often with a dehumidifier. What we do is a cleanout, rodent sealing and a new vapor barrier, which fixes the smell, moisture and rodent problems most Lake Stevens homes have. If a house truly needs encapsulation, we will say so.
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What Does Crawl Space Cleaning in Lake Stevens Cost?
- It comes down to the square footage and how much cleanup, sealing and insulation the space needs, so we price it after we have been under the house. A clean barrier swap and a full cleanup after rats are very different jobs. You have the number before we start.
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How Long Does the Job Take?
- Most crawl space jobs take one to two days, depending on the size of the space and how much has to come out. At the end we go through the photos with you, so you can see the finished space without crawling in yourself.
Free quote · Lake Stevens, WA
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Pests come back inside the window, so do we. No charge.
#112338
WSDA applicator license
Checkable on the state lookup. Ask us for the link.