Photo Album: Fixing an Insulation Disaster in Hillsboro, OR

The owner of this property hadn't gone down and checked their crawl space in numerous years. They started noticing that the floors of their house were always cool and found mold growing in some areas of the house. They decided it was time to check their crawl space and called John's Waterproofing. It was discovered that all their fiberglass insulation had fallen to the base of the crawl space rather than being attached to the sub-floor, negating its purpose of being able to insulate the house. Usually, this is an indicator of a moisture issue in the crawl space from years worth of water seeping through and evaporating into the air. Once the moisture is in the air, then the fiberglass insulation absorbs it causing it to sag and eventually mold and mildew. We suggested that a Pipe Pump Plastic method was a cost effective repair plan to help save this crawl space by being able to control the flow of water and keeping it out of the crawl space so it can't evaporate into the air. To begin, we removed all that fallen insulation because it was just creating an atmosphere for mold. We also removed the previous vapor barrier that was covered in dirt and debris. Then, we installed a drainage system using a perforated pipe and a SuperSump Plus sump pump. These two work together to be able to control the passage of water and offer a way for it to be pushed out of the crawl space and away from the homes foundation. This helps to keep the crawl space dry and avoid any kind of standing water. Afterwards, we installed a new 6 mil vapor barrier that was applied along the base of the space, up the foundation walls, and between the footing and wooden posts to isolate and protect. It is anchored up the foundation walls to help guide any water that tries to seep through the walls down below to the drainage system. With this system fully installed, there is a controlled passage of water to avoid it evaporating into the air reducing the chance for mold and mildew to grow.