Start with what the soil is doing
Because the ground here shifts between Piedmont clay and sandier fill, a solid plan has to track drainage paths, standing water, liner anchoring, termite-inspection clearance, air sealing, dehumidifier placement, and the state of the wood framing before any product gets specified.
Put a full scope in writing
- What's happening now and why
- Protecting the space before work starts
- Materials and how they will be installed
- Permits, testing, and post-job cleanup
- Exclusions, warranty coverage, and changes
Macon context
The important thing to understand about a Macon crawl space is that its moisture usually arrives as air rather than as water. Through a humid Middle Georgia summer, warm outdoor air drawn through foundation vents meets surfaces beneath the floor that sit at ground temperature, and it gives up its moisture on framing, ductwork and insulation for months at a time -- which is why a crawl space can be soaking wet with no leak, no plumbing failure and perfectly adequate grading above it. That mechanism is also why venting, which was standard practice when most of this housing was built, works against the space in this climate rather than for it. Red clay under the house is the second half: it holds water for days after the heavy rain this region gets, so it supplies a continuous reservoir of ground moisture that a sealed liner has to isolate. Establishing the water's route before sealing is what separates a lasting result from a repeat.