Diagnose the conditions first, pick products second
Plan around the actual failure points: bulk water entry, ponding under the house, an inspection gap for termite treatment, liner seams and attachment, sealed rim joists, right-sized equipment, and whatever the joists and sills look like today.
What belongs in a full scope
- The likely cause and current extent
- Prep work and protecting finished areas
- Material choices, compatibility, and install method
- Permits, testing, disposal, and restoration
- Exclusions, warranty coverage, and change-order handling
Gastonia context
Gaston County's mill-era housing produced a particular kind of crawl space, and knowing that shapes what is realistic. These houses were built quickly and economically, so the space beneath them is typically shallow, tight and hard to work in, with ground cover that was either absent originally or added piecemeal over the decades. What makes them wet is mostly air: through a humid Carolina summer, outdoor air pulled through foundation vents condenses on surfaces beneath the floor for the whole cooling season, so the space can be soaking with no leak anywhere. Piedmont clay underneath is the second half, since it holds water for days after the intense rain this region gets and keeps supplying ground moisture upward. On the rolling lots common here, uphill runoff arrives at one wall rather than spreading evenly, so exterior drainage usually has to be settled before a liner is worth installing.