Crawl Space Repair Before & After Photos

Michigan is a harsh place to live for both people and houses.  Freezing winters filled with snow mixed with hot and humid summers due to the many lakes make it difficult for all of us.  It is important for both health, and monetary benefits to keep your home's insulation as up to date as possible.

At Ayers Basement Systems, we recommend upgrading existing crawlspaces with two products: CleanSpace and SilverGlo.  CleanSpace is a white vapor barrier that protects the house from invasive humidity and temperatures from the ground.  SilverGlo (not pictured) goes on the wall to further insulate the crawlspace.  With the addition of a sump pump, these upgrades will help to save money, reduce cold temperatures, and eliminate any organisms growing under our houses such as mold or dust mites. 

This crawl space in Omena, MI was far from picture-picture perfect. It was full of debris and moisture, which was causing a foul odor. Our team of experts visited the home and immediately got to work sealing off the space. CleanSpace was installed to keep moisture out. This liner is significantly thicker than most crawl space liners, and this durability allow for the crawl space to be used for storage. Not only does CleanSpace keep the crawl space dry, but the liner is manufactured with an antimicrobial additive to prevent mold from growing which is often the source of the bad crawl space smell. Now this crawl space is bright, dry, and odor-free!

These Boyne City, MI homeowners found us at a trade show. After flipping through our Crawl Space Science book and talking with one of our representatives, they knew they wanted one of our energy efficient encapsulations. At the time, their dirt crawl space was filled with debris and various types of insulation they had used to cover the vents. Our system design specialist offered them a much a better alternative.

The Ultimate Energy Saving combination utilizes three different products designed to insulate both the floor and walls, all the while keeping the crawl space protected from moisture and humidity. The dirt floor of this crawl space was perfect for moisture and humidity to permeate. Our drainage matting, when laid across the floor, will prevent water from becoming trapped in the crawl space and adding to the humidity. The actual floor insulation came from the waterproof foam TerraBlock. To insulate the walls, the team used SilverGlo insulation panels. The walls were attached over the previous stone and will reflect heat back into the crawl space while keeping the cold out. After encapsulating the entire area with our ultra-durable CleanSpace vapor barrier, this crawl space was good to go. 

After meeting one of our representatives at a trade show, this Boyne City, MI resident decided that an encapsulation was exactly what she needed to deal with the dampness problem in her crawl space. We sent a system design specialist over to discuss the possible plans with her. But before she was willing to commit, she wanted to see what a complete crawl space encapsulation looked like. We got her in touch with one of our past customers who was living in the area. Once she saw the crawl space in person, she was sold.

For this sand floor crawl space, the crew decided to encapsulate the whole area with CleanSpace vapor barrier- the white liner in the after photo. This barrier will prevent moisture from passing through the sand floor. CleanSpace is also mold resistant because of its inorganic material, so the wood floor joists in the ceiling of the crawlspace will never threaten to rot or fail. Now this homeowner finally has her very own CleanSpace system.

After moisture started leaking into the crawl space in the before photo, it resulted in the hanging and wet insulation in the before photo. The plastic tarp in the photo was meant to keep moisture from passing through the dirt floor. If it was working, it wasn’t enough for the rest of the crawl space. Some of the moisture could be traced back to a broken pipe, but after it was repaired, the crawl space was still damp. Our system design specialist traced the leaks back to the block wall foundation. The CleanSpace Vapor Barrier System in the after photo is able to replace the previous tarp barrier and keep moisture from leaking through the walls. It's impenetrable by moisture so water won't affect it again.