Cleaning a Crawl Space in Fayetteville, NC

Wednesday, March 28th, 2018 by Mary White

Challenge

Margaret, of Fayetteville, NC, knew that she had issues with her crawl space. She had been told on several occasions by service technicians and other professionals that she had a moisture problem. Now she had begun to feel moisture and humidity in her home and was convinced that it was finally time to act. Not sure of who to call, she did some research and found Southeast Foundation and Crawl Space Repair. She gave us a call about an inspection.

Southeast Foundation & Crawl Space Repair inspector Justin Edwards Justin from Team Southeast arrived to take a look at Margaret’s crawl space and address her concerns. He made his way to the crawl space, and right away, he began to see the things which she had mentioned others had seen. There was standing water in some places, joists were full of moisture, and wet insulation was falling.

Solution

When Southeast Foundation & Crawl Space Repair arrived, they began by completing prep-work, removing all debris from Margaret’s crawl space. The entire space then had to be raked down and leveled in order to prepare a proper workspace for functionality. Then, they started by installing our SmartSump, a pump that redirects, collects and contains crawl space moisture. In addition, they installed a Discharge Line, to circumvent water out of the crawl space and to the Lawnscape Outlet, which was installed out and away from the home.

Next, we began to completely seal off the crawl space from the earth, addressing the floors and walls first. Because crawl space walls allow the slow but steady permeation of moisture, if not sealed off properly, they become another means for moisture entry.

We then installed SilverGlo around the perimeter of the walls. A Basement Systems product, SilverGlo’s graphite-infused interior insulates, while its radiant barrier reflects heat back into the crawlspace, saving money for homeowners. SilverGlo would cease the transfer of moisture into the crawl space from the surrounding walls.

When sealing off crawl space walls and sealed off openings like vents and doors. The team installed a new custom-made door (33.5 X 18) for Margaret’s crawl space entryway, sealing it completely. Next, they covered every crawl space vent opening with uniquely-made vent covers, complete with foam to insulate each opening and block out moisture and air.

Next we installed the CleanSpace drainage matting. The matting is installed on crawl space dirt as a first layer, a precursor to our main liner. Our 10mil-thick CleanSpace liner was then installed atop the drainage matting, creating an ultra-thick white barrier between the ground and Margaret’s crawl space. The CleanSpace Liner seals out moisture, guarding the crawl space against future mold and rot, while extending the life of the home’s beams and joists. Together, the drainage matting and CleanSpace are almost impenetrable, and create an ultimate level of protection for a crawl space.

Finally, we installed our high-efficiency Sani-Dry Sedona dehumidifier. This technology affords us the ability to completely control relative humidity at all times, continuously keeping the area dry and free from mold, rot, and other things harmful to us and our crawl spaces.

Margaret’s crawl space looked completely different, and she was delighted to know that it would now be a controlled environment, saving her time and money in the future, and ensuring that her indoor air quality would be fresh and healthy going forward. Margaret was more than glad that she had chosen Southeast Foundation & Crawl Space Repair.