Sagging Floors and Water Intrusion- Junction City, OR
Challenge
These homeowners were struggling with sagging floors, musty smells, humid rooms and very high energy bills. The longer these issues went on, the worse and more costly it becomes. For a few years, they were trying to solve these problems themselves, such as adding pieces of wood to add extra support to the floor joists, but it was only a temporary fix due to water constantly intruding and continuing to get the wood wet. Growing tired of all of these issues in their home and wanting to find a real, permanent solution, they reached out to John's and set up their free inspection for their crawl space.
Solution
Once our system design specialist was through with the inspection, he met with the homeowners and went over each finding with them. After hearing how beneficial a full crawl space encapsulation would be for their home, they moved forward with the project. We begin by removing all of the debris, this includes the old vapor barrier and damaged fiberglass insulation. During the inspection, our design specialist found signs of mold. This is due to years of overlooked water intrusion causing moisture to be absorbed into the organic wood material. To solve this issue, we spray our Mold-X2, which is our highly effective cleaner for contaminated surfaces. Mold stains are removed in 20 seconds. We then addressed the sagging floors with a permanent support. We removed some of the rotten wood floor joists and replaced them with steel beams, and installed our SmartJack system. These are our high-capacity adjustable supplemental steel piers designed to stop settling and raise the floor back up. Next, we dig a trench around the interior perimeter of the crawl space to install a 3 inch perforated pipe into a silt sock. This creates a secure passage for water to drain to the SuperSump Plus pump at the lowest point. The water from the pump will then drain to the discharge line we install outside, and will direct it away from the homes foundation. We then connect our LawnScape outlet to the discharge line. This is a grated drain that will allow water to pass through but will keep debris out of the discharge line. To keep water from getting to the home, we install our RainDrain to collect the water and drain it away. Then, we install our TerraBlock system on the dirt floor, creating an insulated barrier to separate the home and the earth. On top off the TerraBlock, all along the foundation walls and up the rim joists, we install our CleanSpace system and it is sealed with our waterproof tape at the footing of the wooden posts. All the vents were then covered to keep outside air from entering. To control the environment we install our SaniDry Sedona. This effective dehumidifier will eliminate damp and musty odors, and will keep the space at the healthy relative humidity as well as promote clean, dry and healthy air throughout the entire home. Lastly, and one of the most important steps to finish this encapsulation is our foam insulation. We spray this all along the foundation walls and up to the rim joists making sure to fill every void to achieve a complete airtight seal. The floors are no longer sagging, and there is no chance of water entering this home-these homeowners can have peace of mind now that their home is fully protected and stable.
