Flooded Crawl Space in Petersburg, IN

Friday, October 12th, 2018 by Kelsey Bullerdick

Challenge

Our customer in Petersburg, IN, had a constant battle with standing water in her crawl space. Aside from having standing water, there was also excess moisture which over a long period of time can support the growth of mold, insects, and may even cause structural damage.

Design Specialist, Bob Roberts, inspected the crawl space, and what he found was - not surprising. Because of the excess moisture, it caused a breeding ground for mold to grow.

Solution

The first order of business is to perform fungus remediation by applying a cleaning product that accomplishes total source removal. Before we could encapsulate the crawl space with CleanSpace, it's very important to seal off the foundation vents and other outside air leaks.

The next step is to protect the crawl space from the outside elements. By using CleanSpace vapor barrier, we isolate the crawl space from anything entering from outside - like water vapor and humidity. By keeping your crawl space dry, you protect your structure and insulation from mold and rot.

With the crawl space completely sealed, we next needed to work on keeping the water out of the crawl space for good. We installed a SmartSump pump system which is specifically made for crawl spaces. It comes equipped with an alarm that alerts you if there's pump failure. Once you've installed a sump pump, it's crucial having a proper discharge line. We installed a discharge line that runs downhill, away from the home.

It's easy for water in the crawl space to eventually turn into "it's full of mold or the floor joists are rotting" in a hot second, but all isn't lost! By installing an encapsulation system and a sump pump, we were able to give this Petersburg homeowner peace of mind knowing that her crawl space will be dry and protected.