Wet Basement Stinks Up Century Old Home in Uxbridge, Ontario

Before	After

Old homes are beautiful. They have a charm about them that can’t be explained, and each stone and piece of wood tells a story. There is a uniqueness to them that can’t be replicated, but this comes with a price. As a home gets older, more problems tend to present themselves.

A family in Uxbridge, Ontario, has a home that’s been in the family for years. It was built in 1887 and has a stone foundation and dirt floor basement. In recent years the basement has felt damp, and a musty smell has travelled from the basement to the rest of the house. Concerned about mould damage and tired of the smell, the family reached out to Clarke Basement Systems.

System Design Specialist Chris Luke met with the homeowner and inspected the home. Chris presented her with a solution, and a date was set up or the installation. Foreman Lucio Flores started by encapsulating the basement floor with CleanSpace® Vapour Barrier. CleanSpace® gives the space a clean look while isolating the dirt floor from the rest of the basement. Drainage Matting was also installed beneath the vapour barrier to help any moisture seep back into the ground.

To remove the musty smell, Lucio installed a SaniDry MoistureLOC® Dehumidifier. This will filter the air while also keeping the relative humidity below 50%. High humidity levels promote mould growth and can cause serious damage to the framework.

The customer is thrilled that her old home is dry, and her air is clean. She has protected her family’s century-old investment and no longer has to worry about moisture damage.

Crawl Space Dehumidifier Installation in Uxbridge, ON

Before	After

The heat is adjustable. You can turn on your AC and a fan, open a window and change layers. Humidity, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. Without a dehumidifier, adjusting to humidity is nearly impossible. For example, this crawl space in Uxbridge, Ontario, had a musty smell and tons of humidity rising into other areas of the house. The humidity left the homeowners uncomfortable and nauseous because of the stench. The problem needed to be fixed, so the water build-up didn’t bring in allergens, mold, warping in the flooring, or unwanted critters. 

With little to no research, our new clients found us. They gave us a call, and we were able to schedule an appointment that following week. We sent our experienced System Design Specialist, Chris Luke, to the home, where he provides an honest estimate suggesting a product best suitable for their crawl space. Chris told our AprilAire ® Dehumidifier since it saves money on your electrical bill, collects the most moisture, can plug into your existing HVAC system, and is quiet. On a later day that week, we had our installation specialist Cam Fraser install the unit in the crawl space. Thankfully the installation took little to no time since it is a simple plug-in product. The owners noticed the climate change immediately and are thrilled they don’t have to put up with the nasty smell anymore.

Basement Renovations Put on Hold Because of Wall Crack, Uxbridge ON

Before	After

This home had a severe crack running from floor to ceiling in Uxbridge, Ontario. The basement is unfinished, so when the homeowners went downstairs for their stored goods, they noticed a pool of water around the crack. Water only entered the basement during heavy rainfall, but since it had not been treated for some time, the wall's fracture had gotten a lot bigger and now pooling happens more frequently. The homeowner's goal is to renovate the basement, but with this problem, the renovation has been put on the back burner. After a quick call to Clarke Basement Systems, our System Design Specialist, Chris Luke made it to the home for a thorough inspection. Based on his findings, he noticed that the crack ran a lot higher than the homeowners thought. The insulation on the wall covered 70% of it, and once peeled back, the homeowners were shocked at the magnitude. 

The solution Chris concluded was to use our FlexiSpan® wall crack repair system. This system uses a combination of a single-celled foam strip, a new drain, and heavy-duty caulking that keeps water at bay and safely drains it beneath the home. Our very experienced Service Technician, Ali Fereidouni, installed the FlexiSpan® with ease. After the crack was sealed, he explained the aftercare and when to start the basement renovations. His charming personality brought their frowns upside down. Another job well done from our team.