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The ways that homes are built are not always helpful in keeping the crawlspace or basement dry. This is one reason why so many people require our services. This particular basement was having a lot of water intrusion through the walls of the basement. Since the homeowner was looking to make the area a more livable and usable space, they wanted this problem to be taken care of for good.
The "before" photo shows what the area looked like before our crew came out to install our products. The most obvious sign that this homeowner needed this system, in this photo, are all of the watermarks on the bottom of the wall. The white marks are minerals that are left behind when the water evaporates. This is never a good sign, and was part of the reason that the homeowner was concerned in the first place.
The "after" picture is a much different story than the first photo. You can see all three of the main products that were installed in the basement. The most obvious one is probably the CleanSpace Wall, which is the white liner that goes around the bottom few feet of the wall. This helps to drain the water to the WaterGuard. The WaterGuard is a drain that runs around the perimeter of the basement and collects the water that comes through the wall. The water then drains through the WaterGuard to the SuperSump pump system, where it is then pumped outside and away from the home. These three products do such a great job in keeping basements dry, and are usually pretty simple and easy to install.
Any air from the outside can ruin the humidity within the inside of your crawlspace. Once the air mixes, the perfect temperature you’ve strived to maintain slips away. And, just having a door to a crawlspace does nothing. Anyone can have a door. In fact, most crawlspaces do have them, but many of them are made out of wood and are not properly sealed. Air, as you know, can slip in through any skinny opening without much trouble at all. That’s where we come into play.
The original crawlspace door was much like the ones I described above. It was wooden, held closed only with a small strap. For short term use, it was fine. However, these doors are not something you should get used to having. Wooden doors have a tough job being so close to the ground. They warp, rot, and are impossible to keep painted. With the warping and the rotting, the door changes shape. It no longer correctly seals the crawlspace at all (if it ever did).
That’s not the case with our EverLast door. It’s ½ inch thick, solid plastic, so it will never rot or need paint. It has a weatherseal, so it doesn’t allow even a small gust of air into the crawlspace.
The problem with block walls is simple: they’re porous. They allow water right into your basement. Once the water gets in, there is simply no way to prevent it from staining your floor. Take a look at our “before” photo. See those dark spots along the floor and wall? That is where water has come and gone. As long as there is rain, the water will continue to creep in and pool—unless it’s stopped. That is where we come into play.
In the “after” photo, All-Dry of the Carolinas has installed our solution. We made an incision along the perimeter of the wall to capture the water that comes through it. The WaterGuard piping system then directs the water into the SuperSump pump. The pump then directs the water out of the basement.
Water problem solved.
Water intrusion issues are, quite possibly, one of the most annoying issues to have. Once water actually gets into a space, it’s takes forever for it to actually get out or it takes a great deal of work to actually remove it. If you mop it up yourself, you’ve spent over a few hours doing it. If you let it dry, that’s an entirely different story. Once it dries, you’re left with a mess. The floors are stained and every piece of furniture in the vicinity is damaged. No one wins during a flood.
The Asheville, North Carolina homeowner actually reached out to us because they consistently had water intrusion problems in their basement. Try as they might, they never could truly determine from which the problem came. It was a mystery, and continued to be one until they reached out to us one day. We set up an appointment, and were able to have our Design Specialist on the property in no time at all. David Listovitch, the Specialist in question, took a look around and located the main source of the problem. The walls were leaking water. He concluded that the basement needed our WaterGuard to collect the water and drain it away.
The “after” photo showcases its installation. Our WaterGuard was installed along the perimeter of the basement and fitted snuggly to the walls. In this fashion, the piping system is able to capture the water and direct it away from the basement. Say good-bye to those nasty flood stains.
All-Dry of the Carolinas specializes in basement and crawlspace waterproofing. When this Asheville, North Carolina homeowner gave us a call and explained the situation, we were more than happy to help. They were experiencing very intense water intrusion issues. The basement would be entirely flooded, staining the floor and walls with efflorescence. As shown in the “before” photo, in addition to efflorescence, the floors would also be tinted much darker than they once were. The water would leave the basement looking haggard and worn.
The best way to stop this from happening was to install our patented WaterGuard System along with our SuperSump pump. In the “after” photo, you can see where we’ve installed them already. The WaterGuard is inserted along the perimeter of the basement to collect the water. Once it does that, it directs the water into the sump pump system.