Crawl Space Repair Customer Testimonial from John W. in Victoria, ON

As a result of slack building codes and sloppy home construction in this province many homes built on basements and crawl spaces have serious moisture problems that can, if unchecked, lead to mold and fungus. Such outcomes can result in health problems as well as dank odors in the dwelling. Although my spouse could smell the dampness I was unconvinced that there was a problem until we decided to install wood flooring in a part of the house. A humidity check by the installer alerted us to the unacceptable levels of moisture in our floor joists and sub floor. The flooring installation was put on hold. While searching the web for dehumidifiers that might solve the problem I discovered Island Basement Systems. Their website provides an excellent discussion and illustration of dampness problems that occur in unprotected basements and crawl spaces. I was surprised by the scarcity of other websites and firms that could provide the comprehensive discussion and remediation of moisture problems. Their website contains numerous photographs of the problems and their remediation. The website presentation was very well organized along scientific lines that a lay person could understand. There were also numerous positive testimonials from satisfied customers like myself.

I was very impressed by the professional manner in which an initial inspection and consultation were provided by a representative of the company. He took numerous humidity readings and photographs of those readings as well as measurements of the crawl space. He used a laptop and portable printer to calculate the areas to be covered along with the cost. I was also shown a short film on the laptop that showed the kind of work to be done.

The most alarming discovery for me was the total absence of a vapor barrier beneath the concrete slurry floor in the crawl space. Remediation consisted of the laying of two layers of impermeable material that was incredibly tough. I was able to examine samples of these materials and push and pull them as hard as I could. They were high tech materials that I could not tear or break.

The floor and the concrete perimeter walls were covered in one day. The firm also allowed me to borrow a large dehumidifier to accelerate the lowering of humidity. The installers were cheerful, efficient and courteous. It is several months since the work was completed. Our hardwood flooring has been installed and my wife's sensitive nose can no longer detect dampness or mustiness in the air. We also notice that our heating bills have lessened and that the house holds heat better. I believe that there are probably many homes on the island that sit on crawl spaces or basements that have not been properly moisture proofed. Rather than spend money on cheap dehumidifiers that have a limited impact on such moisture problems I am pleased to recommend the above firm as a source of superior solutions to such problems. They provide solutions that work long term by addressing the sources of dampness rather than providing superficial and ineffective treatments.

The technicians, installers, managers and office staff of this firm deserve the highest commendation for a service that is much needed on the West Coast of BC.

John W. Osborne, Ph.D.