Isolate and Protect the Wooden Posts - Eugene, OR
Challenge
The wooden posts in the crawl space are crucial for providing support to the homes foundation. They help to prevent sagging floors, settling, and keeping the rest of the house stabilized. Unfortunately, when water intrudes and gets absorbed by the wooden posts it can lead to wood rot and mold growth. Once this happens, the patterns on the post get distorted with water damage and the post becomes weak. This homeowner started noticing that some of the wooden posts in their crawl space were showing signs of significant water damage and called John's Waterproofing about a solution before it was too late.
Solution
The best long-term solution to water in the crawl space is encapsulation. This is the process of sealing off the crawl space from the earth, installing a drainage system, and controlling the environment to prevent future mold or mildew growth. For this crawl space, the first step of encapsulating was installing a drainage system using a perforated pipe and a SuperSump Plus sump pump. The pipe is placed along the interior perimeter of the crawl space to collect water that tries to intrude. It offers a safe passageway for that water to be sent to the sump pump to be securely pushed out and away from the homes foundation. With these two working together to keep the crawl space dry, then TerraBlock can be installed. This thick insulation foam is designed to perfectly fit along the crawl space floor to seal it off from the earth. This helps to regulate the temperature and keep the environment controlled against high humidity. A SaniDry dehumidifier also helps with regulating the humidity by pulling any excess moisture out of the air. With these two systems working together to control the environment, it helps keep mold and mildew from being able to thrive and attack the wooden posts. The last and most important step for isolating the wooden posts is installing the CleanSpace vapor barrier. This 20 mil thick liner is installed along the base, up the foundation walls, and between the concrete footing and wooden posts to isolate and protect them from water damage. It gets sealed in place with 4 inch thick waterproof tape to ensure water isn't able to seep through. The CleanSpace is even backed by a 25 year warranty against rips and tears. After the encapsulation is fully installed, the wooden posts in the crawl space are able to be protected from water damage and the environment can be controlled from future water intrusion.
