Crawl space quote checker

Most quote disputes in this trade are scope disputes. Two quotes that look thousands apart are often pricing different work, and neither party realises until the job is half done.

• It states the square footage, and somebody measured it

  Everything scales with area. A quote estimated from the outside of the house is a guess, and it is the number the price is built on.

• It states the liner thickness and whether the walls are covered

  A floor-only barrier and a barrier carried up and sealed to the walls are different jobs. 6-mil meets the code minimum for ground cover; encapsulation specifications are usually 12 to 20-mil reinforced because thin liner does not survive being crawled on.

• It says whether old insulation, liner and debris are removed and hauled away

  Removal and disposal is labor plus landfill cost, and it is the line that most often separates two otherwise similar quotes.

• It says how moisture will be controlled afterwards

  A closed crawl space has to control moisture by a dehumidifier, ducted supply air, or an exhaust fan. If the quote seals the space and does none of these, it is not quoting a code-compliant closed crawl space.

• If the space takes on water, drainage is addressed before anything is sealed

  Sealing a crawl space that is still taking on water traps the water inside it, under a liner, against the framing, where nobody looks.

The gap between a quote and a final invoice is nearly always something that was never excluded in writing because it was never mentioned at all.

• It says how extra work found mid-job is priced

  Rot is routinely discovered once the old liner comes up. Agreeing the rate for that before it happens costs nothing; agreeing it afterwards costs whatever you are told.

• It is explicit about whether structural repair is included

  Joists, girders and sill plates are priced per piece and are a different kind of work from moisture control.

• It is explicit about pest, HVAC, plumbing and electrical work

  All four turn up in crawl spaces and all four are usually somebody else’s invoice.

These are the ones that are hardest to fix after the fact.

• The business name on the quote matches the entity you can look up

  The name on the van is frequently not the name on the license or the insurance certificate. The register searches the entity.

• You have a certificate of insurance sent by the insurer, not forwarded by the contractor

  Liability and workers compensation cover are separate from licensing and appear on no public register.

• It says who pulls the permit, if the job closes the crawl space

  A permit is required whatever the work costs once a dehumidifier or supply air is involved. It is a small fee and a common surprise.

• The payment schedule is tied to work completed, not to dates

  A large deposit with no milestone attached to it is the single most common way this goes wrong.

• The warranty says what it covers, for how long, and whether it transfers

  A transferable warranty is worth real money when you sell. One that quietly excludes the thing most likely to fail is worth less than it looks.