What Warranties Come With Crawl Space Work?

By Matthew “Jacko” Jackson  |  CrawlSpace Ops  |  Aprilaire Certified  |  20 years US Army Special Operations

Most of ours come from the manufacturers, which is deliberate. A guarantee backed by a product company outlives any contractor, including me.

Here is what is on each piece, and one detail about the dehumidifier that most homeowners have never been told.

The vapor barrier: twenty five years

All of the poly we hang on the walls, the piers and the floors carries a twenty five year guarantee from the manufacturer. It will not deteriorate, it will not off gas, and it will not produce odors.

That last part is not boilerplate. There is a widely used encapsulation material in this industry that absorbs moisture, delaminates, and gives off an ammonia type smell that homeowners notice inside their houses. The guarantee on what we install exists precisely because it is not that material.

The dehumidifier: five years, and this part matters

Every Aprilaire dehumidifier comes with a five year manufacturer warranty.

But here is the detail. If the unit is installed by a certified Aprilaire installer, that warranty runs from the date of installation rather than the date of manufacture.

Think about what that means. A unit that sat in a warehouse for eight months before it got to your house has already burned eight months of coverage if an uncertified installer puts it in. Same unit, same price, same five years on paper. You just get less of it.

That is what certification actually buys you, and it is more concrete than a logo on a truck.

The French drain: lifetime

The ProFlow 2000 system we install carries a lifetime guarantee that it will not deteriorate, will not clog with roots, and will not clog with dirt.

That matters because of how French drains usually fail. Not on day one. Three or four years later, packed with silt and roots, and nobody knows because nobody goes under there. Once this one is installed it will be there for the remainder of our time on this planet.

What being certified actually involves

To be a certified Aprilaire installer you go through their course. It covers the dehumidification process, how each individual unit works, how each one is properly sized, and what to do to replace parts if something breaks.

The practical result is that I keep parts at my shop. If your unit throws an error or a disturbance code, I can usually fix it almost immediately rather than ordering something and calling you back in two weeks.

What no warranty covers

Water that was never addressed. If bulk groundwater is coming into your crawl space and nobody installed a drainage system, no barrier warranty is going to help you.

That is why I would rather find the water first and tell you about it, even when it makes the quote bigger.

Questions about coverage on work you already had done? Call me at 910 580 1836.