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Boise, ID (zone 5). I'm encapsulating the crawlspace both as radon mitigation and to reduce heat loss (currently no insulation down there).

Under the floor joists are some beams supported by 4x6 posts. Some posts rest on concrete piers, but some rest directly on the footing. I think posts resting on the footing is unusual because web searches don't turn up any other examples of it. One of the posts has some rot at the very bottom; I think that's due to a very local moisture source because there's no rot or moisture problems anywhere else in the crawlspace. enter image description here

enter image description here My question is how to seal around these posts. If I run the vapor barrier on the front side, the seal is imperfect on the back side, plus the post will be trapped behind the vapor barrier and unable to dry. But, I don't see a good way to get the vapor barrier under the post, and if I did it would be very difficult to seal where the poly meets the wall behind the post.

How should this be done?

Vulcan
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  • How many posts like this are you talking about? And are you planning on replacing the one post that's damaged on the bottom? – SteveSh Dec 30 '22 at 20:06
  • Don't know exactly yet (getting around the full crawlspace takes some effort I haven't made since discovering the issue), but 3-5 posts. I don't have a plan yet for replacing the damaged post. One possibility is sistering new posts to the sides once the vapor barrier is in place. Or I could cut off the bottom of the post and put a brick under it, but I'm currently not prepared to support that post's weight while working on it. The post still has 1/4 to 1/3 of its basal area intact and the beam is well supported by intact posts on piers, so I don't see it as a structural emergency. – Vulcan Dec 30 '22 at 20:12

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