Island Basement Systems 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).