John's Waterproofing Case Studies: Apartment Building faces Flooding in Crawlspace - Beaverton, OR

Challenge

A large apartment complex was experiencing excessive amounts of water under one of their buildings and around its foundation. The gutters were all aimed towards the foundation and flooding could bee seen around the crawlspace entrances, which were cut to only accommodate a person of small stature. When our crew got under the building we were met with four sectioned off crawlspaces, each flooded. There was weeping walls with moisture stains, drooping fiberglass insulation, the electrical lines were hanging down, traces of vermin could be found as well as trash that would have to been cleaned out. While not the largest crawlspace we had dealt with, the tunneled entrances from each section and irregular plumbing methods that had been used in the creation set this project up as being an interesting challenge, one we were happy to take on. 

Solution

The first thing we had to do was create an access point that our installation crews could maneuver through and allow them to be able to bring products through. After studying the foundation, to find the safe way to work, we dug down by two of entrances, and had to cut through the concrete foundation. With access points on each side the the building our crew began the hard work of tearing down the water damaged insulation and picking up the trash under the building. The crew then lugged out bagful after bagful until they had a clean space to work with. We then had a company bring in truckloads of gravel and we spread it out until we had a level surface. We then fixed all of the downspouts on the exterior of the building before heading down into the crawlspaces. Our crews installed four TripleSafe Sump Pumps, one for each section. We had our plumbing division out to install the pipes so they would fit nicely in the space and pull the water out and away from the complex's foundation. We then lifted up each wooden pier to slide Cleanspace underneath. Our crews then laid down 3/8ths inch drainage matting with TerraBlock over the top. The drainage matting has raised dimples to give the water in the crawlspace a channel under the liner to direct any water to the sump pump. The TerraBlock floor insulation system is made to keep moisture from making its way up while also insulation the crawlspace from the exterior temperatures. Along the concrete poured walls we installed SilverGlo Walls to insulate the space while also creating a barrier that water cannot penetrate. We then sealed all of this with our CleanSpace 20 Mil Nylon reinforced white vapor barrier. We installed two SaniDry Sedona Dehumidifiers and then sealed the whole space up with new Vent Covers and Turtl lockable exterior access hatches to the crawlspace. 

This crawlspace is now ready for anything that Oregon throws at it!