The Basement Doctor of Central Kentucky Before & After Photos

A homeowner in Morehead, Kentucky was having water problems in the crawl space area of the home.  The insulation was beginning to fall down and the homeowner was concerned about eventually having foundation problems due to the water. We encapsulated the space to ensure the crawl space lives a healthy life.

We repaired this crawl space by installing our CleanSpace vapor barrier, our SaniDry Sedona dehumidifier, our SmartSump sump pump, and our SilverGlo insulation wall panels. Now that this space is isolated from the wet ground and outside air, the homeowners can look forward to their healthier living environment. Gone are the days of breathing moldy air!

This newer home had a crawl space that was pretty clean for not being encapsulated. The owners decided to keep the crawlspace nice and healthy by just encapsulating it with CleanSpace matting. This way, the wooden floor joists don't rot from slight humidity, and they can keep critters and insects out. 

Hydrostatic pressure is the most common issue for basements that we see. When your foundation was first built, the builders have to dig up soil around the foundation and then have to backfill back around that foundation with the same soil. Because the soil was dug up, it's not as compact. This creates a clay bowl effect around your home, where water is more inclined to saturate the soil around your foundation because the soil was once broken up. With all this water sitting on the outside of your foundation, it creates a tremendous amount of pressure on the walls. In order to relieve this water pressure, we installed an interior waterproofing system that invites the built up water into the sump pump, and then the sump pump discharges that water far away from the home. We then installed PowerBraces on the bowed wall to make sure the wall is stabilized for good. Lastly, we installed BrightWall panels to cover up the stained block walls.

This house was built on a slab foundation, meaning the footers were pretty much on top of the dirt. We often witness foundation problems for structures built on slabs because the footers do not sit beneath the frost line, (the frost line is where the soil is able to freeze underground). Because the footers of the foundation sit above the frost line, the soil beneath it often goes through periods of shrinking and expanding, causing havoc on the foundation. Although scary, we were able to fix this side of the structure relatively easily by underpinning the foundation with steel piers. After lifting the foundation back with the red attachment on the piers, (seen in the after picture) we then take the attachments off and backfill the piers, leaving them completely concealed from the ground.