The heat ducts, water lines and drainage lines mostly run up in the floor system and are protected by insulation catching the radiant heat given off the heating system.

The insulation by design has an air gap so there is a pocket of warm air inside the floor system to protect the interior plumbing lines.

Once common issue we find when assessing past repairs, is "Over Insulating".

If some insulation is good, more must be better right?

By over insulating areas, it can actually block heat from the air gap from easily getting to the plumbing.

For Example;

If it is -30 under the house and +20 inside the house and the plumbing has the same amount of insulation all around it, the equilibrium temperature will be -10.

If there was only insulation under it, then the +20 temperature can work its way to the plumbing while the -30 has to get through the insulation first, thus keeping the plumbing above freezing.

Many plumbers do not enjoy being in the crawlspace, and it is common for the belly repair to be out of scope of the plumbing repair job.

We commonly see what we call "Exposed plumbing" where the repair may be done, but the protection is non-existent, either from neglect or relying solely on some tape to hold things back together.

We take into consideration thermodynamics for the transfer of heat as well as fluid dynamics for considering air flows in our repairs.

Most of our repairs can be condensed into 4 types.

1. Tape repairs: Minor lacerations in the membrane

2. Patch Repairs: Minor localized areas requiring repair

3. Sling Repairs: Larger areas that need reinforced

4. Slide Re-do: Large areas that need completely removed and a fresh install done

In everything other then the tape repair, we do not rely on our adhesives and tape to hold our insulation and patches in place.

This is the most common thing we see, if that the repair was "done", but in a year or two the tape un-sticks and everything falls out.

We utilize wood supports secured to the bottom of the floor joists for our sling repairs.

We embed plywood and utilize staple fasteners on our patches.

We utilize spray glue and specialized tape, but that is to seal the seams, not structurally hold the heavy insulation and membrane in place.

We can offer inspections as an add-on to our projects or as a service call during the winter months.

We utilize digital moisture sensors, thermal cameras to assess and make recommendations to improvements if needed.

Sometimes the best additional protection of the belly is insulating the skirting.

Even with a perfect floor insulation system, heat is still lost through the insulation into the crawlspace and plumbing, specifically close to the edge of the home or at corners can still freeze during the extreme cold even when no openings are present.