Repairing and Protecting a Home in Franklin in Three Days
By encapsulating and installing floor support to a crawl space, our team restored safety to a Franklin home in just three days.
It’s no secret that home repairs can be a pretty frustrating experience for any homeowner. However, that doesn’t mean that you should experiment with the DIY approach. In fact, you should contact the professionals and repair the damage the right way.
With a quality team at your disposal, your crawl space problems can disappear in no time. In this case, our Nashville, TN, team took care of a homeowner’s needs in less than 72 hours. The whole process went something like this: the customer contacted us, our team discussed the state of her home, and after a thorough inspection, one of our inspectors offered up a solution. Sounds simple, right?
The home is now safe from future water damage and the fact that repairs took just three days makes it even better. Our team encapsulated and replaced a floor support in the damaged crawl space. Once the homeowner pays off these repairs, she said she plans to look into further repair solutions, including further floor support replacements and piering.
Meeting the Homeowner
To best understand the issues your crawl space may be facing now or down the line, it’s always a good idea to learn more about the local weather and soil. Since we’re talking about Franklin, just outside Nashville, TN, in this case, it’s important to point out some information about the area’s climate and common soils. The greater Nashville area is all about warm temperatures, clay soil, and water problems that come about whenever there’s a storm. Of course, clay isn’t exactly a bad soil to build a house on, but does present unique challenges.
Clay is prone to creeping and it is an expansive soil. With excessive rain and groundwater, it begins to expand, allowing the house to slowly sink into the ground. This in turn causes numerous foundation and crawl space issues. Of course, if a crawl space doesn’t have quality waterproofing, it can fall victim to the elements. Unfortunately, all these things were affecting our customer’s home and some will only be dealt with in further repairs.
The homeowner had a certain budget she needed to stick to. She was right to start the process of repairing the crawl space when she did as we were able to prevent the development of further damage. Sometimes, you just can’t afford to fix all of your home’s problems at once, but you should aim to, at least, do something about the main ones. In this case, the state of the crawl space was pretty bad, and here’s what our team came up against.
The Initial Inspection
Clear communication between the homeowner and our team is essential. The homeowner was mindful of the fact that the crawl space was in pretty bad shape. Her assessment of the situation was almost spot on and she was able to communicate all this to us, which helped us prepare for what we encountered at the site, saving time and money. The team was able to dive into inspecting the crawl space right away.
The height of the crawl space was uneven, which is an indication of major structural damage. It was pretty tight on the very end of the home, which was farthest from the door. Previous DIY attempts tried to fix it using home remedies, but it didn’t help.
The uneven weight of the home was affecting every corner of the crawl space. However, the homeowner decided to deal with the foundation settlement issues at a later date. Instead, she wanted to focus on crawl space encapsulation. However, that didn’t stop the repair team from giving her a couple of tips on how to make sure the crawl space foundation makes it until she was ready to do some more work.
The Repair Process
After inspecting the crawl space, it was time for the installation team to get to work repairing the damage. The first thing on the list was cleaning out the debris and dirt lying around the base level of the home. But after that, things got a bit more complicated.
The next thing they did was dig up two holes for floor supports. They busted out concrete because one of the holes wasn’t thick enough. And after graveling the holes, they set up pads, leveling and backfilling them. The team also cut support beams to length, while also shortening the steel beam to 7 ft. under the kitchen floor. Besides that, it was time to replace the failed support and to install sistered joists. Still, our crew didn’t stop there.
They covered the walls and the dirt floor with a vapor barrier. This way, the excess moisture in the soil surrounding the house couldn’t get inside the crawl space anymore. The team also used spray foam insulation between the crawl space vapor barrier and the wall. They also built the crawl space door from scratch, installed a crawl space dehumidifier, and ran a condensation line out.
The homeowners said she was satisfied with this round of repairs. Of course, there’s much work left to do in the future, but that’s up to the homeowner.
Don’t Waste Your Time!
Don’t try to deal with crawl space problems by yourself. It’s better to contact your local professionals and allow them to take matters into their hands. If you’re looking to make sure that your crawl space, basement, or foundation are safe, contact our team for a free inspection. With their help, you’ll easily restore your house to its previous glory.
