Healthy Spaces Before & After Photos

A homeowner in Madisonville, KY, had concerns about their foundation due to their walls beginning to crack and unstable floors. In Kentucky, the soil contains clay. Whenever moisture enters the clay, it expands, but when it escapes due to the dry climate, it will shrink. As the soil began to shrink, it caused strain on the walls, causing them to crack. Repairing the foundation of the home would also fix the unstable floors from above. 

Since the foundation was unstable, it needed to be stabilized using the heavy-duty SmartJack system. To address weak foundation soils, a two-foot cube of soil is excavated at each SmartJack location. The hole is then positioned on top of another base to hold the SmartJack in place and properly distribute loads. A high-strength, galvanized steel tubing is cut to the appropriate height. The steel column and components are assembled and connected to the support beam, and the SmartJack system is tightened into place, The support beam and floor joists are immediately stabilized and the above floor and walls can be lifted back toward level. It relieved the homeowner to know that the foundation of their home will be safe for years to come. 

A homeowner had someone inspect their crawl space located in Evansville, IN, and had the air quality tested. When the air quality resulted lower than expected, the homeowners were encouraged to reach out to us regarding mold remediation. There was visible mold throughout the wooden beams of the crawl space. Mold is a fungus that eats organic matter. It likes temperatures between 32 and 100 degrees F and relative humidity between 70% and 99%. Mold is typically found in places that are damp or humid for an extended amount of time, just like the crawl space!

Only through proper mold remediation will banish mold for good. Replacing wooden beams that were affected by mold may help the appearance of a space, but the problem will occur again if the root of the cause is not dealt with. Installing a SaniDry Sedona will create a dry airflow throughout the crawl space, preventing mold from growing. Any openings of the crawl are closed tightly. All wooden beams are treated for mold and visible mold is scrubbed off. Treating and preventing mold ensures that the homeowner and their home will be safe.

In Poseyville, IN, a homeowner contacted us, wanting to inspect their basement wall. Upon further inspection, stairstep cracking was visible on the outside of the basement wall. Stair-step cracking means that wall failure is increasingly getting worse. As the wall bows more severely in the middle, the corners are held up by adjacent walls, creating the stairstep cracking effect. A foundation settlement caused a foundation problem such as this. 

To reverse the stair-step cracking issue, the GeoLock Wall Anchor system is set. For a wall anchor system to work effectively, access of at least several feet is needed on the outside of your home. The reason behind this is that the rectangular anchor is placed inside a hole outside the home while the second one is placed inside the home, next to where the issue lays. A silver rod is drilled through the one-inch hole in the basement wall and is connected to the anchor seated deep within the hole. Once all the components of the wall anchor system are connected and tightened, your basement wall is permanently stabilized. 

We received a call in Evansville, IN from a homeowner having a concrete mishap. The homeowner's driveway was pushing the concrete into her garage and it was making the foundation off balance. There was a crack starting to form in the middle of the foundation due to the concrete pushing the foundation in and forming a bowing wall. This issue can become dangerous if it is left unresolved. The foundation is what a home rests on and if it is disrupted, it will cause the home to form cracks on the floor above.

The PowerBrace system was the best option for this unique problem. The PowerBrace system is zinc-plated steel beams that are customized to fit the basement wall height and secured tightly against it. This design allows the system to be tightened over time, stopping wall failure without invasive drilling or digging on the property. An advantage to adding the PowerBrace system to wall failures is that it can be installed year-round and typically takes less than one day to complete. The PowerBrace system left the homeowner feeling secure about their home's foundation. 

A generous amount of water was seeping into the crawl space from the outside in Mount Carmel, IL. The water had caused mold to form due to the humid climate. If the material is organic, dead, and wet, mold knows to eat it and since the crawl space is made of organic materials that are also wet, it causes the crawl space to be infested with mold. It is common to see heavy rain on the radar during the springtime, while in the summer, the weather can be relatively dry. Once the dry season approaches, it gets humid in the crawl space, causing the water that seeped into the crawl space to form mold. Mold released airborne spores, which are so light they float on the slightest air currents, off to find more suitable places to grow. 

A vapor barrier is the best solution for this type of problem. To create the best functioning vapor barrier, CleanSpace is installed throughout the space, to seal off air from leaking into the crawl space. A sump pump was installed to pump away access water 24/7 that would enter the space from the ground. A corner of the crawl space was closed off to prevent water from leaking since there was suspicion that that was where the main water was coming in through. It relieved the homeowner to find the crawl space dry and easily accessible!