Home Health Photo Album: Feel Safer in Your Home by Encapsulating - Hood River, OR

This homeowner wanted to see what improvements could be made to their crawl space after discovering some of the wooden posts were damaged due to high moisture levels. The posts could no longer support the home and had shifted beneath the house which caused sagging floors. They reached out to John's Waterproofing about how to fix the posts and protect the rest that were underneath the house. We informed them about the encapsulation process of sealing the earth from the home to keep it dry and healthy long-term. To begin we had to remove the falling fiberglass insulation. This indicates that the moisture level was a problem because as water evaporates into moisture in the air, the fiberglass insulation and wooden posts can absorb it, causing them to deteriorate over time. Once everything was cleared out, then we installed a drainage system. We dug a trench to lay a perforated pipe in that can safely collect any water that tries to enter and offers a safe passageway to exit the crawl space. This pipe attaches to a SmartDrain, which is a below ground drain that collects the water from the pipe and removes it from the crawl space through its liner bin. The SmartDrain has an alarm system on it to notify homeowners in the event of excess water or a plumbing leak. After drainage is installed, then we put TerraBlock along the base. This is a durable insulation foam that is cut to perfectly fit into each individual crawl space. Over top of the TerraBlock, a CleanSpace vapor barrier gets installed. This is made of thick woven fibers and is backed by a 25 year warranty against rips or tears. It helps ensure no water can seep over top and flood into the crawl space. We applied Spray Foam along the foundation walls to insulate and air seal the space. A SaniDry dehumidifier was then installed which will keep the spaces relative humidity at a healthy level. Because of the past history with high moisture, some of the wooden posts needed to be replaced with SmartJacks. These are steel adjustable piers that help to stabilize the home. Once the full encapsulation is completed, the homeowner can now feel safer in their home knowing the crawl space is protected and dry.