Before & After Photos

This crawlspace was a typical 1970s construction; concrete skim coat on top of a poorly install poly sheet, exterior vents, and the insulation was minimal at best. The rim joist cavities did not have any insulation, air barrier, or vapor barrier installed. The dampness wicking through the concrete skim coat was condensing on the cold rim joists, which resulted in them rotting out, getting moldy, and interfering with the smooth sale of this home. Island Basement Systems was called to provide a solution once the Home Inspector found the issues during the buyer's home inspection.

Our method of repair was to remediate the crawlspace to prevent this from happening again and to replace the rim joist with new materials.

CleanSpace encapsulation liner to provide a permanent ground seal, Elastochem Extreme closed cell spray foam insulation on the exterior walls, (closing off the passive vents too), new rim joist, and mechanical timed ventilation. Mission accomplished, and the crawlspace is now a conditioned space that is clean, dry, energy-efficient with good indoor air quality.

Before photo: the rotted rim joist.

After photo: this is actually the 'during' process where we replaced the rim joist. Don't let this happen to your home. Condition your crawlspace, and save energy, time, money, and a lot of stress!

This crawlspace was really nasty when we were called to fix it. Cold, wet, mouldy and lots of rotting wood. Our CleanSpace liner, SmartSump de-watering, and open cell spray foam insulation was the solution.

When we repair crawlspaces with our encapsulation and spray foam system, we always recommend that mechanical ventilation be installed. This can consist of something as simple as a small fan, a dehumidifier, or ideally, a Heat Recovery Ventilator. Island Basement Systems installs basic HRV systems, and we prefer to see them used as they provide whole home fresh-air exchange which significantly improves your indoor air quality (IAQ).

Exterior retrofit before/after:

This Prospect Lake home had a mould problem on the interior due to the poorly insulated walls. Every winter, condensation would form on the cold walls, leading to a pretty nasty mould issue. In 2009, the owner had enough and the house was retrofitted. To repair the home, the walls were retrofitted by removing the batt insulation from inside and adding R13 of open cell foam. Then we added an exterior layer of  R18 closed cell foam, along with a rain screen system and new Hardie Plank siding. Now the walls are R31 rated are completely air tight! The roof was re-insulated as well with an exterior layer of closed cell foam, and new sheathing and shingles to complete the package. A true deep retrofit that also score 84 on the EnerGuide rating.  

For this project, we started with the foundation repairs, and eventually solved the entire homes energy efficiency issues.

Perimeter drains should be replaced every 25-30 years. Our alternative solution for this site is to install our sub-slab WaterGuard and SuperSump system under the basement floor as this will prevent seepage and flooding from occurring without the cost and mess of digging up the front yard. Also removing and replacing the basement slab is very difficult and expensive. Our solution to stop water vapour we use ThermalDry membrane flooring that is both a vapour barrier and a thermal break so the basement is more comfortable.

Closed cell spray foam is perfect for basements and can be tied into the ThermalDry flooring membrane to provide an encapsulated basement. It's seamless bonds well the the concrete and wood framing, providing a complete air barrier as well as 20 insulation.

Apply approximately 15ft of 8" to 10" wide carbon fibre material over the crack to help stabilize from future movement.