Rainy Day Basement Systems Case Studies: Combatting Asthma by Preventing Mold in Greenbank House

Challenge

This Greenbank couple called Rainy Day Basement Systems because their crawl space dilemmas had reached a point where they were affecting other rooms in the home, specifically the bedroom. Jan and Pete mentioned that their bedroom had started to smell musty and damp. They were considering that the problem derived from their crawl space. They were correct, their crawl space had almost an inch of standing water in it in some places, in addition to the presence of mold. There was also evidence of rodents and pests.  This problem was particularly troublesome for Pete and Jan because someone in their home suffers from allergies and asthma. The air quality of their home was diminishing and in turn triggering massive agitation of such conditions.

Solution

To prevent mold in the future, the crawl space was encapsulated in CleanSpace, an antimicrobial liner that completely separates the home from the earth. They also added vent covers, this ensures that the space remains clean and dry. They coupled that with a SaniDry CX dehumidifier to further control the temperature and humidity in a way that mold becomes dormant and new mold cannot grow.

A TripleSafe sump pump was installed to lead all of the water a safe distance away from the home. The TripleSafe pump is a great option for those who want to cover all of the bases. It is equipped to continue working even if your first pump goes out, it’s raining too hard and the pump can’t keep up or in the event that the power goes out. It also includes a Water Watch Alarm that will alert Jan and Pete if water is leaking in to the space.  A SmartDrain plumbing leak system was installed to also help identify future plumbing leaks. The water is lead to the drain atop the CleanSpace lining. This will trigger an alarm to let the homeowner know so they can take actions to fix it.

A drainage trench system was installed to add to the prevention of water seeping into the crawl space. The system collects water from the foundation walls and leads it directly to their TripleSafe sump pump where it eventually is carried out by a LawnScape outlet. This outlet is a downspout that is buried and discretely transports the water a safe distance away from the house. Finally, an IceGuard was added to the discharge line to prevent floods from occurring in the instance of freezing and clogging.