Crawl Space Repair Before & After Photos

Jerry called our team because he had moisture in his crawl space. So we insulated his rim joists because small cracks and seams can exist around them. However, after insulating rim joists all of those cracks are sealed off. Now flow of air and moisture is restricted which will prevent moisture from entering Jerry’s crawl space.

When this crawl space first began to sag, the owners had tried to stop their floors from sloping using the stacked cinder blocks in the before picture. Originally, the makeshift support had worked. The floor joists were stable and the owners didn’t have anything to worry about. But after discovering moisture issues in the crawl space, the owners decided to have a full encapsulation done and figured it was as good a time as any for foundation repairs, as well. The new support system in the after photo is the SmartJack Crawl Space Stabilizer.  Unlike the cinder block solution that was in the crawl space, the SmartJacks are adjustable and can be raised to whatever height will lift the floor back to its original position. Even if this crawl space runs into more trouble, the stability of the floor above will remain intact.

Janet and Mark have lived in this house since '95. Janet grew up in this house with her older sibling so she technically has lived there her entire life. The home was built in 1880 and they plan on staying there for at least five more years. She noticed changes in the center support and that it had started to become compromised.  After contacting Ayers, our foreman Evan was able to inspect the area and noticed the worst was a large washout under the wall that also caused the mortar to decay heavily.

Evan and his team decided to put two smart jacks, one on each side of the doorway to reintroduce support into the structure. 

SmartJacks are steel beams vertically placed at strategic points of the rim joist and are anchored into the basement floor with poured concrete. The tops are fixed with loadbearing joints that attach to the rim joist. The height of the Smartjack is adjusted till the system is applying constant pressure, this provides a permanent corrective force to the supportive framework of the home.

Humidity problems in two large crawl spaces below this old farm house were creating real issues. Sometimes visitors to the home were even suffering from allergic reactions. Rooms were also very cold in the winter. In order to insulate the walls, we used a spray foam so that we could effectively seal in all the nooks and crannies. Then we put our durable CleanSpace vapor barrier over the top and sealed the top and bottom in order create an effective encapsulation and keep humidity levels down. Finally, a SaniDry XP dehumidifier helped to keep humidity levels in a safe range.   

Water was entering a homeowner’s crawl space so he called our team to discuss encapsulation options. We installed SilverGlo, a set of waterproof foam panels. This system is used on the walls of your crawl space in order to insulate it. Uninsulated crawl spaces cost you money each year by increasing your heating and cooling bills. SilverGlo blocks all moisture and is made of inorganic material which prevents mold, rot or mildew from forming. Overall, it will keep this homeowner’s crawl space dry and insulated which will save him lots of money over the years.