A Three For One Job in Belding, MI

Challenge

Bill and Kelly called us with a problem in their basement. Well, a series of problems in their series of basements. Three separate rooms - a basement, a crawl space, and an old school Michigan Basement - each had different issues, but the one thing they had in common was that they were making life up in the house above difficult.

First there was the “modern” poured-wall basement. This area had water seeping in through the walls, which made it basically unusable for storage or anything else in terms of dedicated space. Then there was the crawl space, which had no insulation and was causing the floors upstairs to be freezing at all times. The entrance to the crawl space was also located...under the porch. Which wasn’t ideal. The final area was an old Michigan basement and sometimes fruit cellar that was literally falling apart.

Solution

So basically, there was a lot to inspect, and there were many problems to solve. The best way to start is to start, so System Design Specialist Greg Brown went to work. For the sake of ease, we’re going to refer to the sections by number. 1 is the poured wall basement, 2 is the crawl space, and 3 is the Michigan basement.

The biggest problem in section one was the lack of a perimeter drainage system. There was a sump pump in place, but it was old. Besides - you could have fifteen sump pumps installed, but if there isn’t a drainage system in place to actually funnel the water to them, what good are they? So we installed a full perimeter of our WaterGuard below-floor drain system, and tied it into a new SuperSump pump. Outside, we put IceGuard on the discharge line to prevent winter freezing causing a backup, and ended the discharge line with a LawnScape outlet to allow easy draining without lawn interference.

Section two had multiple problems to address: access, insulation, and structural integrity. There wasn’t a safe, reliable path for the new HVAC system they were planning to have installed, the electrical box wasn’t accessible to basically anything, and the access to the crawl space itself was under the porch.

It isn’t convenient, or even feasible, to carry supplies in by crawling under a porch, so we had to demo the structure in order to create an outside access. We also tunneled out new runs for the HVAC system, and our electrician moved the electrical box to make it accessible to everything below the house.

To address the insulation problem - or rather, the lack of insulation problem - we encapsulated the entire crawl space with the CleanSpace vapor barrier system, which will protect the crawl space from the outside air, and therefore keep the home above it protected as well. We used FrothPak spray foam on the rim joists, which are a known point of air leaks, to add an extra layer of sealant and protective insulation to the crawl space.

Finally, we reinforced and stabilized the crawl space with SmartJacks. The porch had floor joists beneath it, which meant that there was no support for the load bearing wall at the front of the house. This explained the sloping of the floor at the front of the house, and the seemingly unfixable slope of the porch itself. This was another reason the porch had to go, and Bill and Kelly just planned to put new stairs in at a later date, when the house wasn’t threatening to pitch forward.

Finally, section three was up to bat. Considering it was a small space, it sure held a lot of problems. First, we installed a galvanized steel beam as the new main support beam to reinforce the space. Then, we addressed the crumbling walls by using Shotcrete to literally create new walls in place; when walls are made of stone, and the stone crumbles, Shotcrete is pretty much the only way to reinforce and stabilize them without having to do something crazy like lift your entire house and pour new walls. We also used Shotcrete to reinforce and replace the load bearing porch wall mentioned in the last paragraph.

What started with cold floors and leaking water in this home’s series of basements ended with a full waterproofing and stabilization. Project Manager Doug Hawley and his crew dedicated a lot of time and effort into making this home safe, dry, and comfortable, and what used to be a neverending series of headaches is now just a home.