Before & After Photos

This home in Easley was taking in water in their basement. In this before picture you can see the bare basement without any work done. The walls and floor had evidence of water intrusion. This is a problem for the home owners because they were trying to install wood flooring. To fix this problem they called us at All-Dry of the Carolinas to install a variation of our waterproofing products.

The perimeter of the basement was jack hammered out so that the WaterGuard could be placed in the space. Since this is a circular basement and WaterGuard is typically cut into straight sections, our crew let by crew foreman Will Harris, had to take a different approach to solving this issue. Cutting the WaterGuard into small sections, our crew placed tiny slits into the WaterGuard so that it would curve like an accordion. These slits are then covered with our waterproof tape so that when it is covered with concrete it won’t enter the WaterGuard. But before the WaterGuard is placed into the trench, the CleanSpace was added to the wall. CleanSpace was added to the wall to direct any ground water that seeps in down into the WaterGuard drain system. CleanSpace is added before the WaterGuard so that the drainage system can be installed against the plastic. It is harder to tuck CleanSpace behind the drainage system once it is installed.

 The SuperSump Pump is placed into the ground and has the WaterGuard connected to it. The WaterGuard is leveled so that any water that enters it will be drained into the SuperSump Pump. There is a three inch pipe that connects the WaterGuard to the SuperSump liner. The SuperSump would then flush any water it takes into the LawnScape outlet that is located in the yard.  

Once all the parts of the system are installed, they are cemented over so that it is invisible. Our crews wash down any and all forms of dust and muck that might have formed during our work so that your basement looks better than when we arrived. The after picture shows the basement with our WaterGuard, SuperSump, and CleanSpace products!

Crawlspaces can end up causing a lot of trouble for homeowners, especially when in such a humid climate. Water intrusion and high humidity affect a lot of crawlspaces and basements in our region, so we have gotten very good at fixing these kinds of problems in homes. This can be a very serious issue, which is why we treat it as such when assessing homes for customers. 

This homeowner had a pretty rough crawlspace when our Specialist went under the home. They had a much higher humidity level than they should have, and because of this mold and mildew was already making appearances in the crawlspace, which the homeowner was worried about. The bad thing about a high humidity level is that it is pretty much completely invisible, so unless you have to proper tools, you can't tell.

However, our CleanSpace Liner completely transforms the look and function of a crawlspace. Almost the entire crawlspace has been covered in CleanSpace, which helps to keep moisture from getting into the crawlspace. This particular homeowner wanted to get the liner all the way up the walls, to really protect them from any further water. One thing that is often missed is the debris that the crew removes, which if you look between the pictures is extremely obvious. The crew will take out most of the rocks/bricks/etc in order to make sure that the ground is level and no rocks will go through the CleanSpace.

Sealing a crawlspace up is extremely important, and while the majority of the crawlspace can be sealed up with CleanSpace liner, there is still one main area where a lot of outside air can easily get into the crawlspace: the door. You may not think that this applies to you because you have a nice door, similar to the one on this home, but even these nicer doors have a lot of room for improvement.

Many homeowners decide to not get a new door, which isn't always a problem, but because there is still an airflow into the crawlspace, it does have some effects on the system. This is especially prominent in the summer when the humid air gets sucked into the crawlspace, making the dehumidifier (assuming one is installed) run more because it has more moisture to pull out of the air.

However with the EverLast door installed, the homeowner no longer has to worry about any air getting into the crawlspace. The EverLast door creates an airtight seal around the entrance of the crawlspace, which keeps any air from getting in. Another benefit of these EverLast doors is that they are made of a durable plastic that won't break or rot like the wooden doors that most crawlspaces have!

There are a few main places that should be covered/blocked in a crawlspace when encapsulating the area. The biggest is the ground of the crawlspace, because this is usually where the majority of the water and moisture comes from. However, there are other places that have to be blocked or sealed up in order to provide the best and most efficient system for the home. 

The door that was originally used to access the crawlspace was a hinged door (as are most) that left a lot of room for air to seep into the crawlspace. This is something that we certainly don't want to happen, because with the outside air comes moisture which is what we're trying to prevent. Even though a door like this may seem like it is solid enough to prevent air flow, there are a lot of small cracks and openings for the air to get in.

The new EverLast door makes a huge difference with the air that was getting into the crawlspace. It creates an airtight seal around the opening that keeps all outside air out of the crawlspace. Keeping the air outside the crawlspace helps with the moisture level because it keeps new air from being introduced to the crawlspace. Here in South Carolina, this is especially important during times of high humidity, like during the summertime. 

This homeowner was very aware of the dangers that can come from water intrusion under a home. This particular homeowner is a contractor who had used us several times before to waterproof homes that he had worked on before. So when he started to have problems with his own home, he knew exactly who to call. It didn't take much convincing from our System Design Specialist to get this homeowner to agree to get his crawlspace encapsulated.

The "before" photo shows an area under the home before any work was done in the crawlspace. Sometimes water intrusion and moisture issues in a crawlspace can be very subtle, which was the case for this home. There is not always a small river flowing through the crawlspace or a completely flooded basement. Often, these can cause more damage because they are much less noticeable. 

The "after" picture tells a much different story even though it is the same place as the first photo. Having the CleanSpace installed completely changes the look of the crawlspace. Not only does it make the area look better but, more importantly, it keeps moisture from getting into the crawlspace. A dehumidifier was also installed to keep the humidity level of the crawlspace under 55%, which is around the level that mold is able to grow.