All-Dry of the Carolinas Case Studies: Encapsulating flooded crawl space in Pauline, SC
Challenge
Imagine walking down into your crawl space to find that it looks like a swamp. Water is standing around the edge of your crawl space as if there is a moat. Mud and dirt litter the crawl space creating moisture in the air that is beginning to damage your home. This amount of water collecting in the crawl space creates issues to the homes foundation, floors, paint, and can also lead to mold and mildew.
When this homeowner in Pauline, SC found his crawl space in this position, he called us at All-Dry of the Carolinas. We sent out our design specialist, Alex Rogers, to check out the crawl space and to give the customer an estimate on the best way to fix this problem. Alex suggested that the best way to get control of this moisture and water intrusion would be to encapsulate the crawl space.
Water was getting into this crawl space as a result of hydrostatic pressure. Hydrostatic pressure is where gravity pulls all ground water down and when this water meets something such as a crawl space wall, the water is forced through it. Because hydrostatic pressure is bound to happen, there isn’t a real fix to the issue, the best thing that can be done is to install a system that will direct all incoming water out of the crawl space.
Solution
Our All-Dry of the Carolinas crew led by crew foreman, Ray Petry, began work on this crawl space by removing all the trash, rocks, and debris that was sitting in the crawl space. The crawl space has to be cleaned because we want the CleanSpace vapor barrier that is installed to be sitting on a smooth surface to prevent any tears.
Once the crawl space was cleaned out, a trench was dug around the perimeter of the crawl space so that drainage tile, which is drainage tubing, could be installed. The tubing in placed into the trench and then covered with gravel so that the system is steady. These trenches are placed in the low parts of the crawl space so water will flow downhill and into the drainage system. Once the water is in the drainage system, it then flows to the lowest part of the crawl space where a SuperSump pump is waiting to flush the water from the space.
After the drainage tile is placed into the crawl space, the CleanSpace liner is then placed in the space. It is placed on the floor, walls, and wrapped around piers in the crawlspace for maximum coverage. CleanSpace is a vapor barrier that works to get moisture from leaving the crawl space floor and getting into the air.
The final piece of this crawl space encapsulation to be added is the Aprilaire dehumidifier. The Aprilaire is used to remove excess moisture from the air. This moisture in the air typically comes from the pipes under your home or any place within the crawl space where air can seep in. The Aprilaire will remove the moisture from the air and drain it into a condensate pump where the water is then flushed from the crawl space.
This job took a total of five days to complete, but once our crew was done, this home in Pauline, SC had a crawl space that was protected from water and moisture.
