Before & After Photos

Dreary crawlspaces are as unwelcoming as a wet floor sign. Often they are dark. Often they are humid. Often they are littered with specks of water and the scattered remnants of debris. They are all the same and yet a little different. This crawlspace needed professional help. We know this because the owner always noticed a musty smell and flooding whenever it rained. As you can imagine, this could be quite the nuisance.

Something needed to be done. And this Columbia, South Carolina crawlspace was ready for the solution.

Judging by this “after” photo, we’ve done just that. Not only is the area wrapped neatly in our patented CleanSpace liner, but we’ve also installed one of our best SuperSump pumps. To the right of it is a trusty dehumidifier designed to dry out the air.

Very few items complement a moisture filled crawlspace like our patented CleanSpace liner. It is honestly the ultimate vapor barrier. Look at what a difference it has made. With its implementation, water vapor can no longer rise from the dirt and into the air. The CleanSpace on the walls actually block water that comes through the walls from ruining the moisture free environment.

Everything in the “before” photo is a product of an overexposure to water. The deep, muddy trench is where water has collected over the years and dried slowly. Along the crawlspace walls you can see a dark line where water had turned the trench into a pool at some point. This issue will no longer be present with the install of our CleanSpace.

This crawl space in Ridgeway, SC was having some very serious issues with water intrusion. This actually turned out to be a relatively serious issue for the homeowner and needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. This homeowner really wanted to make sure that this issue would not come back, so he decided to go for a full encapsulation, with CleanSpace running all the way up the wall, 3-inch drain tile, SilverGlo Insulation, a dehumidifier, and a SuperSump pump system. All of these products worked together to provide this homeowner with more protection than they knew what to do with!

The "before" photo shows a corner in the crawlspace that was getting hit pretty hard by the water intrusion. The most obvious part of the photo is the dark, wet soil along the corner of the wall, which is pretty significant that that much water has built enough to essentially make mud. Another issue that you can see if the water that has soaked through the wall. The dark spots all up the wall are the areas that water has soaked through the blocks, which is where the issues were coming from in this crawlspace.

The "after" picture is what the crawl space looked like after the CleanSpace and other products had already been installed. The only product that can be seen in this photo is the CleanSpace liner, however, you can see that it covers almost the entire area beside the ceiling and part of an interior column. We leave a few inches of open area so that if any other contractors need to access the rim joists (usually termite inspectors), then they are able to check.

Open sump holes were common for a long time. Not having a top or a lid made accessing the pump that much easier. The problem with an open sump hole is that the water inside of it evaporates into the air. This erases all hopes of a dry crawlspace.

That is the dilemma this Ridgeway, South Carolina crawlspace faced when they call us at All-Dry of the Carolinas. The first issue, besides the exposed sump hole, is the lack of coverage. There is no proper barrier protecting the house from the ground. Of course, there is a loose plastic sheet, but, without it being secured, it provides no protection from water vapor.

Again, if we focus on the sump hole, we see just how awful it is. In addition to being an eyesore, there is a deep trench surrounding it that—one would thing—would make it difficult for the water to reach it. Either way, the solution is to provide both a sturdy barrier and an operational sump pump. We have that here in the form of CleanSpace and a SmartSump.

The SmartSump, unlike its predecessor, comes equipped with a lid and WaterWatch Alarm. The Alarm is used to alert you, if your basement has flooded. The lid itself insures that no water vapor escapes into the space and adds to the moisture level. The CleanSpace is that barrier we mentioned. It is the perfect gate keeper to prevent water vapor and other natural gases from entering your home.

The difference between the two is stark when you consider them. I know our clients, the owners of this home, were more than happy to see a big change take place.

To make a difference in your crawlspace, please reach out to us at All-Dry of the Carolinas.

CleanSpace installation to encapsulate this crawl space located in Hopkins, SC.