Recently, we completed a large job in Nevada City. This specific home had water intrusion issues that created large amounts of standing water in certain areas and where the entire crawl space was damp to muddy throughout. Finished wood floors in the living areas buckled from moisture and the house smelled damp and dank downstairs. Armed with a Geotechnical engineer’s report, we attacked the crawl space, digging approximately 500’ of trench, installing fabric, installing 4” perforated pipe and back-filling with drain rock.
Once we had finished this phase of the job, three inline fans were installed. They were installed so that they would pull fresh air from the most ventilated section of crawl space, push this fresh air through the entire crawl space and exhaust it out the back side of the house. The fans were set with one humidistat servicing all three fans and they were sized to handle the size and volume of air-flow in this given space.
When the pipe and back-fill were complete and the fans were installed and doing their job; two drain outlets to discharge water under the foundation were installed at specified locations to allow excessive water to be directed out of the crawl space. In addition, a “Basement Technologies” sump pump was installed as a secondary means of escape for any sub-surface water that might still be trapped inside. The objective here was to eliminate any and all standing water.
Once the areas were graded and cleaned of debris and the fans and sum pump were tested and working properly, the crawl space was encapsulated. A 12 mil. anti-microbial membrane was used to cover the soil. The membrane was attached to the foundation and piers using a two-sided tape and pins that were drilled and set into the concrete. The seams were taped with a manufacturer’s seam tape designed specifically for this application.
The spoils and old flex pipe that had been removed when the job began were disposed of and a layer of fresh bark was installed in their place. The job was complete and the crawl space was dry and remarkably clean. A dry crawl space that has fresh air pumping through it will always have a happy ending and be a permanent solution to so many problems that can negatively impact a home or structure.
I believe people want to know what their return on investment is going to be, some way of quantifying the results. In this specific situation, the results were very obvious. A home with drainage issues that would not sell in a hot market for over a year, was sold and closed on within two months of this work being completed. These types of results can be quantified and should never be overlooked
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