Ayers Basement Systems Before & After Photos

When these past customers of ours noticed the large horizontal crack in the before photo, they knew something was wrong with their home’s foundation. Cracks like these normally appear when soil puts extra pressure on walls and forces them to bend inwards. The inward bending or bowing of walls can lead to a lot of foundation problems, including structural failure. To keep that from happening to this Battle Creek home, our crew installed the Geo-Lock Wall Anchor system. Aptly named, the system anchors walls against any future movements to hold the foundation in place. The Geo-Anchors are placed in strong, dependable soil about 15 or 20 feet from the walls. They are then attached to the walls using the wall plates and steel rods that run through the middle of the plates in the after photo. Even as soils continue to expand, the anchors will keep the wall steady. 

When this crawl space first began to sag, the owners had tried to stop their floors from sloping using the stacked cinder blocks in the before picture. Originally, the makeshift support had worked. The floor joists were stable and the owners didn’t have anything to worry about. But after discovering moisture issues in the crawl space, the owners decided to have a full encapsulation done and figured it was as good a time as any for foundation repairs, as well. The new support system in the after photo is the SmartJack Crawl Space Stabilizer.  Unlike the cinder block solution that was in the crawl space, the SmartJacks are adjustable and can be raised to whatever height will lift the floor back to its original position. Even if this crawl space runs into more trouble, the stability of the floor above will remain intact.

When the dirt and debris began to take over a customer's crawl space in Battle Creek, Mi, they knew it was time to call Ayers.

The first step of the project was to remove the dirt and build-up that had made itself at home. With the crawl space cleared out, CleanSpace was then installed, as shown in the after picture. CleanSpace is a white, durable, vapor barrier that works to keep out any moisture or mold. With CleanSpace in place, spray foam was used to seal off any small gaps in the corners or seams of the walls that traditional fiberglass insulation could not cover. 

One of David's walls in his basement was bowing out about six inches in the middle. So our team decided to install PowerBrace. Outside pressures caused his basement wall to move, however this foundation repair system counteracted these pressures by keeping his basement wall in place. Then, over time, the system was tightened to not only secure his wall in place, but to also straighten it.

Humidity problems in two large crawl spaces below this old farm house were creating real issues. Sometimes visitors to the home were even suffering from allergic reactions. Rooms were also very cold in the winter. In order to insulate the walls, we used a spray foam so that we could effectively seal in all the nooks and crannies. Then we put our durable CleanSpace vapor barrier over the top and sealed the top and bottom in order create an effective encapsulation and keep humidity levels down. Finally, a SaniDry XP dehumidifier helped to keep humidity levels in a safe range.