Crawl Space Repair Photo Album: Crawl Space Encapsulation in Columbia, SC

This home in Columbia, SC had a lot of work that they needed to be done in their crawl space. Not only did this home have a huge crawl space, but they also had a couple entrances! This was a very interesting job, because another company had already been there to encapsulate the crawl space, but had failed. This job was about installing a system that was not going to fail the homeowner.

Standing Water on Top of Liner

The other company that encapsulated this home, definitely made some critical mistakes. The water that can be seen sitting here on the liner, has been there for a while, and certainly shouldn't be there in the first place. The main point of an encapsulation is to make sure that no water makes its way into the crawlspace.

Mold Growth in Crawlspace

Since the water that was stuck in the crawlspace, above the liner, it had nowhere to go, except to evaporate and stick to the organic surfaces in the crawlspace. This is what caused the mold to grow in the crawlspace. The mold is the white area at the top of the floor joist, near where the pieces of wood join together.

More Standing Water

Here is another example of standing water in the crawlspace. While it does not seem like much, keep in mind that it does not take much moisture for mold to begin growing. this was certainly an issue, so we took care of the problem as quickly as possible.

Huge Puddle of Standing Water in Crawlspace

This may have been one of the main contributors to the increased humidity levels and mold in the crawlspace. This pool of water is easily a couple feet across, which shows just how much water was really in this crawlspace. While we were not sure exactly where all of this water came from, we knew whatever our solution was, it needed to be foolproof (which luckily our systems always are).

Leaning Support Column

This was an area that was pretty concerning to our Specialists, because this was an outer support that had some very obvious lean to it. This next picture will show exactly what we did to correct this issue, but in short we removed this column and installed a SmartJack in its place.

Installed CleanSpace and SmartJack

This was the same area that was shown in the last photo with the leaning support column. We were able to remove the existing support column and replace it with a SmartJack, which can hold up to 60,000 pounds, more than enough to take the column's place. This photo also gives a sneak peak of the CleanSpace that was also installed.

New CleanSpace Liner

While the crawlspace probably does not look too much different than the before photos, the way that the CleanSpace was installed makes a world of difference. There are two ways that we seal the CleanSpace, one way is through a caulk/glue that adheres to the wall, and the second way is through a special tape that we use. They are both used during installation, and the tape is put at the top of the CleanSpace to keep the top sealed.

Crawlspace Dehumidifier

Here is the dehumidifier that we installed in this home's crawlspace. A dehumidifier is almost a necessity in an encapsulated crawlspace, because while we do our best to keep moisture out, there is still almost always some moisture that makes its way into the crawlspace. The dehumidifier is there to make sure that the relative humidity level does not get too high.

SmartSump Pump System

Here is the sump pump that was installed in the crawlspace of this home. The SmartSump has several important features to make sure that the sump runs efficiently and effectively. One major "accessory" that our sumps have is the WaterWatch alarm, which alerts the homeowner when the pumps aren't pumping correctly.

Turtl Crawlspace Entrance

This was one of the two entrances that led to the crawlspace. The Turtl is for entrances that are partially or fully under ground level. These do a great job of keeping water from getting into the crawlspace, especially since we seal the entrance. An added bonus is that this Turtl can be locked.

Entrance to Crawlspace

Here is the inside of the Turtl, which was shown in the last picture. You can see how the CleanSpace liner in the crawlspace goes all the way up to the Turtl, so that no water from the outside can make its way in.

Other Crawlspace Entrance

Here is the other entrance to the crawlspace, which is covered with an EverLast Door. This is a different type of door, but it certainly does the job well. EverLast doors are airtight, which keeps moisture and air from getting back into the crawlspace. We really made sure that this homeowner was not going to have any more issues with their crawlspace!