Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Insulat under house, tight crawl space

Hi, we have a raised house in La., under the floor there is no insulation and the floors are chilly cold in the winter.

We can't afford spray insulation for under the house at this point, and we can't get under the house to install our own insulation, the crawl space is too tight.

Can we put plastic sheeting (or something similar) around the entire bottom perimeter of the house? (the house is about 1.5 ft. off the ground). It seems to us like that would prevent cold air from flowing under the house, and might be a temporary fix.

Any thoughts?

If you can't insulate below, you can achieve some insulation from above. Carpet with cushion offer some thermal insulation on floor. There are also radiant heating options to go beneath floor covering.

There are also skirting materials available, such as those used beneath mobile homes. You can check at a mobile home supplier for skirting. Insulated skirting is also available. Skirting is more attractive and a more permanent solution than using plastic sheeting to enclose the gap beneath a raised home.

would be to have the crawl space encapsulated, specially if the floor is dirt. The skirting would break some of the outside air, but will not deal with the moisture from the soil that will evaporate and condensate in your crawl space creating other problems. Completely sealing off the crawl space from the outside, and making it part of the internal envelope of the house is your best alternative. It will make your house easier to heat, save you some money in utilities and protect your floor joists against moisture. Here's some info on crawlspaces and energy efficiency CRAWLSPACES.ORG (http://www.crawlspaces.org)