Enclosed and sealed off our coastal home crawl space. Installed sump pump and backup with alarms and a dehumidifier. We bought the house new in 2002 and began smelling a musty odor a couple years ago. It got worse over time and we decided to either sell the house or fix the problem. We opted to research the market and see if there was a fix available that made sense and had a good track record with similar problems. We ultimately found John's and decided to go with him.
The damp, musty smell from our crawl space was was worse in the winter when the crawlspace had some standing water in it. There was a French drain installed by the builder but did not remove all the water in the winter and even in the summer, the dirt floor was always damp. We talked with a couple contractors but John's was the only one who's solution made sense to us. It costs a lot of money and the "sticker shock" was beyond our expectations, but we felt the solution - if it works as predicted - would be worth it (too early to tell since it has only been a little over a month installed.) John's responded very quickly to our inquiry and immediately sent us a book written by the creator of the system they use. It was was a great educational tool and helped us understand the causes of our problem and the likely options to fix it. The person who came to our place did a check of the crawl space and took pictures and humidity readings and presented his solution as well as the price proposal. We negotiated a bit on the price and the cash discount helped lessen the impact of the total amount. Work was scheduled to start within a few weeks. The work team showed up on time, neatly dressed and immediately started working. They completely shielded our entry and hallways to the back bedroom where the crawlspace access was located. This barrier stayed up during the entire process but they did take it partially down at the end of each day for ease of our access. Work proceeded at a rapid pace as all the old floor insulation was removed along with the plastic sheeting on the dirt floor of the crawlspace. They also removed all debris from the crawlspace, leveled the surface and created channels for water to run to the sump pit. They inserted new waterproof barriers under all the support posts and then sealed the foundation vents with plastic covers and sealing compound. They modified one of the vent covers to accommodate the dryer vent in that location. Then they placed drains along the base of each foundation wall that will direct water to the sump pit. The foundation walls were insulated and sealed at the top and then the heavy gauged material was placed on the dirt floor and sealed with heavy duty tape to create a seamless barrier between the always-damp ground and the crawl space environment. The sump and back-up along with alarms was installed and the pump was connected through the foundation to drain into the storm water runoff ditch in front of our home. The dehumidifier was the last bit of installation and followed by a complete and thorough clean up of everything. The work was completed on the estimated schedule and we were absolutely delighted with the entire team. They were always punctual, professional and easily accommodated the "little things" that always come up during any job. We have no reason at this point to doubt that it's success and every reason to be very happy with John's Waterproofing.
Don V. of Gleneden Beach, OR
Tuesday, January 20th
