Thrasher Foundation Repair Before & After Photos

When it comes to the health and safety of both a home and it’s occupants, often the symptoms of a problem appear first. In this case, Amber, the homeowner, had previously added crawl-space humidity mitigation solutions. Unfortunately, they weren’t a match for what her home really needed.

Discovering crawl-space mold & humidity issues

Amber was no stranger to investing in her Omaha home to make it clean, safe and comfortable. She had recently completed a remodel of her home due to a house fire.

Soon after, she started having issues with mold, and so she added dehumidifiers in the crawl space and on the main level. She found that she was emptying the dehumidifiers three times a day to keep the moisture at bay. Her brand-new wood floors started having issues, and the flooring installer said it was due to the humidity in the home. He delivered the verdict that the flooring would continue to buckle if the homeowner did nothing.

Amber called Thrasher to preserve all that she had invested in her remodeled home.

Completing the crawl-space inspection

Thrasher System Design Specialist Shane McClintic met with Amber and did a complete inspection of her home to determine what was happening and how Thrasher could fix it. He found that a large amount of the excess moisture was coming up through the ground in the crawl space area. The homeowner had attempted moisture mitigation before, but the quality of the products used and the way they were installed wasn't enough to keep the humidity below an acceptable level in the home.

Understanding why humidity and moisture can cause hidden problems

Excess humidity and moisture may be the single leading cause of a poor internal environment in the home. Yes, it creates that "damp smell" and can lead to mold issues, including the highly toxic "black" mold, but it also invites dust mites. Like mold, dust mites are major contributors to asthma and allergy problems. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians(opens in a new window), the real problem with dust mites is their waste, which creates negative skin reactivity for 90% of patients.

Quality home dehumidifiers for your basement or crawl space are designed to ensure that the humidity level in your home stays below 60%, which significantly reduces the ability for allergens and mold to survive. Home dehumidifiers also filter the air circulating in your basement or crawl space to help remove any dust mites or other allergens that may sneak in through open windows, access openings or improperly sealed gaps in your foundation.

Determining the right crawl-space solution

To fix Amber's problem, the Thrasher team removed the ineffective plastic liner from the crawl space because it wasn't sealed and had developed multiple holes. We then properly encapsulated her crawl space with drainage matting and CleanSpace?. CleanSpace is a hefty 20-millimeter-thick liner — similar to a pool liner. It is manufactured in a seven-layer blend of high-density polyethylene for puncture resistance, low-density polyethylene for flexibility, and polyester cord reinforcement for brute tear resistance. This combination is why CleanSpace comes with a 25-year warranty against rips and tears. The white finish brightens the space and easily allows customers to see a mold, insect, and dirt-free area.

Next, we installed SilverGlo™ crawl space insulation, an expanded polystyrene insulation infused with graphite for ultimate wall protection, on the walls and in the rim joist to create a thermal boundary and regain control of the temperature from outside conditions.

We installed a SuperSump? sump pump system to pump out any groundwater that may get in and accumulate under the liner and contribute to the humidity challenge. The single pack comes with a Zoeller sump pump, which can pump 2,650 gallons/hour. The pump is more than enough to keep up with Amber's need to empty the dehumidifiers and discharge excess moisture outside the home.

Finally, we installed a SaniDry™ Sedona to dehumidify and purify the air. This unit self-drains to the sump pump, so Amber does not have to worry about constantly emptying her unit like she had to for the existing dehumidifier. The SaniDry Sedona has a whopping 100 pints per day capacity and will move over 300 cubic feet of dry air per minute around your basement or crawlspace. This high-performance fan, paired with a replaceable MERV 8 Filter, removes mold spores, dust mite droppings, dust, and other particulates with ease. It dries the contents of your home and building materials, making that damp feeling and funky basement smell go away. The SaniDry Sedona will keep relative humidity throughout the entire crawlspace under 50% (after the encapsulation and insulating,) which will protect Amber’s wood floors from swelling and buckling too.

Enjoying a properly sealed and maintained crawl space

Following Thrasher's completion of the project, Amber texted Shane a picture as soon as she could see her new crawl space. Her caption was "Taa-daa - I love it!!!". Additionally, she praised the crew, saying they were "very friendly to work with." Most importantly, she reported that the system was already making a difference in how her home smelled and felt.

Like Amber's project, crawl space repair is the perfect solution to help you save money on utility bills, avoid unnecessary repairs, and create a healthy living space in your home. With crawl space encapsulation, you will gain valuable space for storage and protect your home once we have sealed your crawl space with a durable vapor barrier. The crawl space encapsulation treatment separates and protects the crawl space interior from outdoor conditions, keeping the area clean and dry.

Are you ready to learn more?

Whether your crawl space is wet and moist, needs winterization, or has foundation repair issues, our team will conduct a complete in-home inspection, professional consultation, and free crawl space repair quote that details the perfect solution.

Or, contact us by phone talk to a Customer Care Representative.

Long narrow driveways can be difficult to repair, especially when houses are in close in proximity. There are a couple of options when it comes to repairing driveways. Some contractors still use the old-school repair for settled concrete. They use heavy equipment to demolish the cracked, settled sections of concrete. With concrete replacement you often get a damaged areas, such as yards, and that's off limits until the new concrete hardens and cures. More importantly, the new concrete is going onto the same problem soil which caused the issue in the first place. Another method is mud jacking but leaves the concrete with noticeable injection holes that are 1”-2” in diameter. The material used in mud jacking is not waterproofed which could wash out if not properly sealed, but the material is extremely heavy. Knowing the weight of the original concrete, over a poor soil base, is usually what cause settlement in the first place and by adding additional weight you’re asking for additional settling to occur.

Long driveways, comes a lot of concrete to potentially replace. Typically, homeowners won’t replace the entire driveway do to the cost. More common they elect to fix the damaged areas. You can only imagine what, the end result looks like. Yes, a checkered board style driveway. The new concrete that was poured will never matched the original concrete, and usually stands out like a sore thumb. There are several variable which will control the color of the concrete. These include weather, finishing practices, the relative moisture content of the subgrade, the curing process, and the age of the original concrete. These factors are not always consistent. For instance, a cloudy day versus a hot sunny day pour can make the concrete turn out differently.

Even if you considered patching the problem areas, there are still problems that could exists. When concrete is poured there are two things that happens. It gets hard and it cracks. To control the cracking pattern, contractors will trowel or cut lines in the concrete to control the cracking pattern. These control joints will eventually crack through the slab. When it rains, this is a perfect path for water to flow down and under the concrete slab. Your long and narrow driveway accumulates a lot of water to travel down. This creates erosion and more wet, weak soil. When this happens, the soil shifts, and there becomes unsupported areas of concrete. Easy concept to think about is stepping in a mud. Now, imagine not only the weight of the concrete on the unsupported soil but driving a car on a driveway add tremendous added weight. If part of your concrete slab is supported in one section and not in others, the unsupported pieces may crack away from the other section which will result in additional cracks in the concrete or unlevel concrete.

PolyLevel is a state-of-the-art alternative to mudjacking, re-leveling grout or concrete replacement. PolyLevel is a high-density expanding foam that our technicians can use to raise settled concrete. The two-part polyurethane foam mixture is injected through small holes drilled in the settled concrete. Our installers are trained to control the injection process so that just enough foam is used to re-level the concrete deck and to fill additional voids under the concrete. Because the foam's expanding action fills voids in loose soil, this concrete leveling technique improves the soil's stability and load-bearing characteristics. You can feel confident that settlement won't occur again. Once the slabs have been lifted level, we can also come in and provide a silicone polyurethane sealant that will keep water from going through any joints and causing future erosion or a possible heave situations.

The polyurethane foam system offers numerous features and benefits:

Lightweight - Our polyurethane foam weighs approximately 4-6 pounds per cubic foot when installed, in comparison to traditional mortar-based material which weighs 120 pounds per cubic foot.

High capacity - Lifting action is a result of the expansion of the polymer, allowing for lifting of a much higher load than traditional mudjacking, which relies on hydraulic pressure being contained under a slab.

Accurate lift - Calculated reaction time of the expanding polyurethane foam allows for targeted, precise lifting of the slab.

Waterproof - Polyurethane formula is fully waterproof, so it won't wash out, won't be impacted by freeze/thaw cycles and can be used to under-seal slabs and stop a variety of infrastructure leaks.

Non-invasive - PolyLevel equipment can be used in extremely limited access areas and won't disturb lawn or landscape.

Quick cure time - Within just 15 minutes after injection, the concrete slab is ready for heavy loading; compared to conventional mudjacking which takes several days to cure.

Environmentally-friendly - With PolyLevel there's no need to demolish the concrete and transport the waste to a landfill.

The photos speak for themselves with this concrete driveway repair project in Lincoln, NE. After the concrete slabs were lifted and leveled back to their original position, we used NexusPro silicone-based caulking to seal the joints and cracks. The result not only looks great, but at a fraction of the cost of full replacement, this driveway is protected against future sinking and settlement problems.