Basement Waterproofing Case Studies: New Life for A Century Home
Challenge
A century home, simply put is a home that was built and has been standing for 100 years or more. It must go through a series of inspections and tests to be certified and sold as a “century home.” Century homes are beloved and well sought after for their history, unique charm and interesting quirks. The only obvious downside to owning a home with such heritage and history is the maintenance and upkeep it takes to bring it up to modern standards and comfort levels. If the building itself is 100 years old that means so are the pipes, the wires, the plaster walls, the foundation and the wood framing. Not only are a lot of these mechanisms not designed to inherently last that long; the technology, installation and material used in many cases is extremely outdated and nowhere near up to modern standards. That is why it is a good idea to know ahead of purchasing a century home, that you are also beginning a large project, one that requires a measure of tender love and care and most likely even some blood, sweat and tears.
This customer in Peterborough had a crawl space that was affected by not just high humidity but moisture and ground water seepage as well. They were very concerned about the future health of their beautiful old home, but also more importantly the health of their family. The historic home was also plagued by major heat loss issues during the coldest Winter months. Clarke Basement Systems quickly determined it to be the bare stone rubble walls in the crawl space which did nothing to keep out heat and had no insulation applied to it whatsoever.
Solution
System Design Specialist Ryan Hanlon designed a custom solution for this customer’s specific needs using a combination of proprietary technologies and methods. Effectively what was needed, was to seal off and keep the basement dry using an encapsulation system. Clarke Basement Systems begins by removing all existing organic material from the customer’s affected area. Secondly, Clarke Basement Systems lays drainage matting all along the uneven dirt floor to create a smooth, flush surface to lay the encapsulation system down. The CleanSpace® technology is used to seal the walls and then it is combined with our ThemalDry® basement flooring system to create a drainable, waterproof floor.
As an additional measure Clarke Basement Systems installed a SmartSump® system to alleviate any potential ground water seepage in the future. Then last but certainly not least, we installed one of the best and most efficient dehumidifiers in the world to ensure customer satisfaction. The Aprilaire® E-Series. This machine keeps the ambient relative humidity at 55% percent and promotes a fresh and clean environment keeping out the growth of mould and mildew for years to come.