Crawl Space Repair Services

We have partnered with CawlSpaceRepair.com, a leader in the crawl space encapsulation market, by joining the Crawl Space Encapsulation® Licensed Dealer Network. This partnership broadcasts our commitment to a customer centric business model focusing on honesty, trust and providing long term results.

Water Management

Water management is the first step. While not all homes will need a complete dewatering system, almost all will at least need a water management plan to prevent flooding during severe weather events. Our InstaDry® sump pump system comes with a 5 year warranty giving piece of mind on this investment if it is necessary. Some key things we will be looking for during our inspection-

• does the home have a roof gutter system?
• does the home sit lower than the road?
• are there water marks on the foundation?
• is there a positive grade around the home?
• has the crawl space ever had standing water?

Foundation Vents

Crawl space foundation vents cause more harm than they help. In order to control the dew point temperature, air temperature and ultimately the relative humidity in your crawl space these vents will be closed & sealed permanently. This will be the most important step to keeping the outside out.

Ground Moisture

The other major source of crawl space problems is moisture evaporation from the soil. This evaporation will be stopped by using any of our high performance crawl space vapor barriers on the floor, walls and supports. The vapor barrier options and thickness can vary depending on the brand. However, the warranty is the same 30 years on either DiamondBack™, GuardianLiner® or SilverBack®.

Dehumidification

Once we have the crawl space under control, it is now time to control it. The outcome of a clean, dry & healthy crawl space will be in the hands of the Moisture Medic® crawl space dehumidifier. With an 8 year warranty powered by our partners at CrawlSpaceRepair.com and AprilAire you can expect a long term results when you choose Delmarva Crawl Space Solutions.

American Made

We only use American Made high performance vapor barriers that were not only made for the crawl space environment, but engineered for it. SilverBack®, GuardianLiner® and DiamondBack™ are made from 100% first use virgin polyethylene. Each manufacture run is tested for odor and off gassing to meet the highest Tested Pure™ standards and then packaged into rolls, serial numbered and made available for installation. Having a vapor barrier installed inside your home that is untested for purity puts your home at risk of new VOC odors. Often installers risk this in your home only to save themselves $60-$120 in materials.

30 Year Written Warranty

All three American Made Brands come with a 30 year warranty that includes replacement of the barrier if there is a manufacture defect AND the labor to do so by the dealer. This Warranty is given to you in writing from the warranty department at CrawlSpaceRepair.com. You will also have access to the lab results for your vapor barrier serial numbers once the product is registered.

Installation

The vapor barrier is laid on the floors to cover 100% of the surface area. It is cut around each pier and other obstruction that cannot be moved. Each of the floor seams will be overlapped by a minimum of 10″-12″ where one piece overlaps the second. Each of the seams will be taped using a high performance waterproof seam tape to maintain the lap seal. The foundation walls will get vapor barrier as well with a mechanical seal and fastener above the outside grade. The wall barrier will underlap the floor barrier by 10″-12″ and the same waterproof seam tape will be used to seal the two pieces together. Each of the homes support piers will get wrapped and taped to the floor. The seal at the top of the support will be done by banding the waterproof seam tape several times around the top of the pier. Any and all other penetrations will be closed using an appropriate sealant.

Reliability is the cornerstone of expectations when commissioning a professional to design and install a solution to a chronic water and moisture problem. Our knowledge and experience to properly assess the source, path and volume of a water problem is paired with high performance and long lasting products to achieve a successful result. We use many different high quality products and we source them from American manufacturing whenever possible.

The InstaDry® dewatering system is a state of the art water collection point that dramatically improves control of hydrostatic pressure in the ground. InstaDry® uses water slots instead of holes to allow large volumes of water into the basin. It also houses the high capacity water pump, moving up to 45 gallons per minute. This design offers a quick response to water intrusion from surface or ground sources.

Crawl space water is a really big problem with most homes. There are many reasons why water gets under your home. The most common sources are from poor grade and roof water.

Taking the water from your home’s roof and routing it underground to a low area prevents it from settling in the crawl space. This also helps keep the ground around your home from becoming over saturated and puddling water.

Poor grade around your home means that the ground soil slopes towards your home. Often landscaping mulch and other ground cover can hide this condition. When the ground does not slope away from your home it will enter the crawl space causing or adding to a moisture problem.

Crawl space insulation can be done a couple different ways, between the inside and the outside or between the home and the crawl space. Once your home has a health crawl space the best method is to insulate between the inside and the outside. This is done using ridged foam insulation that is attached to the foundation walls acting as a buffer between your new crawl space and the problematic outdoors.

Replacement of existing sump pumps are necessary to keep your home dry and ready for the next major weather event. Pumps are mechanical and do not last forever, how long they last will depend on how often they are called on and the quality of the pump. Often, failed pumps are due to poor quality, being under or over sized and/or the check valve failing. All sump pumps, even the most robust, rely on the check valve to prevent over pumping the same water. The sump pump and the check valve work as a team, when one fails it likely means the other is close or has already failed.

Moisture control is the most important step in the crawl space improvement process. Steps of a Crawl Space Encapsulation® are so a dehumidifier can maintain a desired moisture level under your home.

We use the Moisture Medic® crawl space dehumidifiers, available is several sizes to handle any crawl space moisture problem. With electronic display and the ability to be monitored and control using the ApriAire Health Air app. The Moisture Medic® comes with two washable filters, for more convenient maintenance and a gravity drain system with no pans to empty.

Standing water in the crawl space not only makes access uncomfortable it makes it dangerous. Electrical appliances like air handlers, dehumidifiers and heaters become a fire hazard under a home when it floods not to mention the different animals and reptiles that prefer the standing water.

We can get the water pumped out of your crawl space and help get it dried out. We use commercial quality pumps that are designed to handle the dirty water and constant pumping required to drain the crawl space. If your crawl space is flooded you don’t have to wait until it is dry to call us out for an assessment.