How Much Insulating a Crawl Space With Spray Foam Costs

If you hate walking across cold flooring, it might be time to insulate your crawl space. Freezing floors are often due to a lack of insulation, especially when what is beneath your floors (i.e., the crawl space) is not insulated properly. To keep your home warm and cozy as temperatures start to dip, consider beefing up your under-floor insulation.

One of the most effective types of insulation to install in your crawl space is closed-cell spray foam insulation. In addition to having an impressively high R-value of around 6.5 per inch, closed-cell spray foam insulation also serves as a moisture barrier, which can help prevent mold, rust, or mildew from forming in notoriously damp or leaky crawl spaces.

Plus, spray foam is extremely long-lasting and doesn’t degrade in effectiveness over time. So, once it’s installed, you won’t have to worry about it for essentially the rest of your life. Sounds good, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in installing closed-cell spray foam in your home, consult this guide on how much insulating a crawl space with spray foam costs to see if it fits your budget.

Average Cost of Insulating a Crawl Space With Spray Foam Insulation

The best way to determine how much insulating your crawl space with spray foam insulation will cost is to get a quote from a professional spray foam insulation company. However, if you’re in the early stages of the planning process, you may simply want a general estimate of the cost.

Typically, closed-cell spray foam insulation costs around $1 to $1.50 per board foot. Based on the size and conditions of most crawl spaces, you can expect to pay an average of around $1,800 to $3,600 to insulate your home’s crawl space with spray foam.

Keep in mind that this range is just a general estimate. There are numerous factors that may cause the price to be higher or lower. Below, we will address some of the main elements that impact the price of installing insulation in your crawlspace.

Factors That Impact Crawl Space Insulation Cost

The Size of the Crawlspace

Perhaps the largest determining factor of the cost of installing spray foam insulation in a crawlspace is the size of the space. Larger crawl spaces will naturally require more insulation material and more work, which will cause the price to be higher than if you were insulating a smaller crawl space.

Whether You Insulate Just the Underside of the Floor or the Entire Crawlspace

Another factor that influences crawl space insulation costs is whether you want to insulate just the underside of your floor or the entire crawl space, including the walls and rim joists. If you want to insulate the entire crawl space, you will need to cover a lot more area than if you just chose to insulate the underside of your floor. As a result, the cost will be significantly higher.

Foam Thickness

The foam thickness that your crawl space requires will also impact the overall cost of installation. Homes that are located in climates that experience significant temperature fluctuations will typically require thicker insulation than homes located in mild environments. Because a thicker layer of insulation requires more material, the cost will be higher.

Whether Your House Is New or Older

Whether your house is new or older typically has an impact on the cost of installing spray foam insulation in its crawlspace. Generally, it is easier to install insulation in a new home because the crawl space is more easily accessible. In older homes, insulation contractors may have to work around drywall, structures, and existing insulation, which makes the job more challenging. As such, it is generally more expensive to install spray foam insulation in the crawlspace of an older home compared to a newer one.

Whether Your Crawl Space Is Vented or Unvented

Your crawl space’s ventilation generally influences how much it will cost to install effective insulation. If your crawl space is vented, it will require additional sealing in order to be effectively insulated. Because more work is needed to achieve optimal insulation levels, a vented crawl space typically costs more to insulate than a non-vented one.

Cost vs. Benefits of Installing Spray Foam in Your Crawl Space

In addition to keeping your feet warmer as temperatures start to decline, insulating your crawl space with spray foam insulation also offers a host of other benefits. When weighing the cost vs. the benefits of installing closed cell spray foam insulation in your crawl space, keep these advantages in mind:

• Lower Energy Bills: Because closed-cell spray foam insulation has an extremely high R-value, it is one of the most effective insulation materials on the market. As such, it will greatly help reduce the amount of heat that seeps into or out of your crawlspace. In doing so, closed-cell spray foam insulation helps keep your home at a comfortable temperature without requiring you to crank up your heating or cooling system. By reducing the amount of energy that your temperature control system consumes, installing closed-cell spray foam insulation in your crawl space can ultimately end up saving you a substantial amount of money on your energy bill each year.
• Reduced Drafts Along Baseboards: In addition to making the flooring in your home extremely cold, an under-insulated crawl space can also cause drafts to form along baseboards. Such drafts will cause your feet and legs to become even colder and will create an uncomfortable living environment.
• Protects Pipes From Bursting: Installing spray foam insulation in your home’s crawl space can help prevent your crawlspace from reaching extremely low temperatures. In doing so, the insulation helps prevent the pipes that run through the crawl space from freezing and bursting, which can result in significant damage and high repair costs.
• Prevents Mold Outbreaks: As mentioned above, closed-cell spray foam insulation serves as an effective moisture barrier. As such, it is beneficial for reducing high humidity levels in crawl spaces. If excess humidity accumulates, it may transfer through foundation walls or flooring and result in mold outbreaks. Because mold can be incredibly difficult and costly to get rid of once it develops, it is beneficial to practice preventative maintenance and insulate your crawl space with closed-cell spray foam insulation.

If you determine that the many benefits of installing spray foam insulation in your crawl space are well worth the cost, Paragon Protection can help you take the next step. We are a leading spray foam insulation contractor in Wauconda and the greater Chicago area. While we specialize in spray foam, we also offer numerous other types of insulation to suit your needs and preferences. To learn more about our home insulation services, contact us today.