Overheard a contractor say he never uses a vapor barrier in crawl spaces

I was at a lumber yard in Greenville last week picking up materials and heard two builders talking. One guy said he never puts vapor barriers under houses because he thinks they trap moisture. That goes against everything I learned from my old boss. I've been managing properties for years and every crawl space issue I've seen got worse without a vapor barrier. Is this a real debate among custom home builders or was this guy just cutting corners?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelac633d ago

Trap moisture?" My buddy in Asheville skipped a vapor barrier and found mushrooms growing through his subfloor six months later.

patricia_wells3d ago

Yeah @angelac63 is right from what I've seen too. Maybe it's just me but that contractor might be confusing a vapor barrier with something that doesn't breathe properly, idk. Crawl spaces need moisture control down there or you're asking for trouble.