Wet Basements In Rexburg

5/8/2017 (Permalink)

The potential is there for mold infestation and eventually, structural damage unless the water gets drained, and the air moisture levels brought down.

Water Damaged Basement

Water in the crawl space under a home usually goes ignored until it goes away. A damp basement also goes ignored until puddles start to form in the low spots and stored property begins to absorb the excess water. Both attitudes can have long-term, adverse effects.

SERVPRO knows that a wet basement or crawl space is more than just an annoyance to a Rexburg home. The potential is there for mold infestation and eventually, structural damage unless the water gets drained, and the air moisture levels brought down to normal levels.

Our technicians can get into most crawl spaces and remove standing water using various types of sump pumps. In small spaces, they can push in lengths of hose to efficiently draw water out as well. Basements are drained of standing water in just a few hours using one of the portable pumps or pumping trucks in our equipment inventory.

With the water removed, one of our inspectors checks the air content using special moisture meters. If the humidity is too high, technicians deploy dehumidifiers to lower the moisture percentage in the air. These machines draw as much as 25 gallons of water from the air per day and clear out most basements in two or three days.After we remove the water from your basement and lower the moisture content, we highly recommend two additional services: encapsulate your crawl space and waterproof the cinder block foundation walls.

Encapsulation simply means installing a water vapor barrier. Our technicians use high-quality, polyethylene sheets that are reinforced with a polyester mesh to seal off the floors and walls from bleeding moisture into the crawl space. We secure the sheets in place using two-sided, foundation tape or a polyurethane caulk. Since most crawl spaces have a dirt floor, polyethylene sheets are a very efficient and low-cost method to prevent further moisture intrusion and reduces the risk of mold infestation as well.

Waterproofing the foundation walls serves the same purpose as encapsulation, but is more efficient for basement and areas larger than the normal sized crawl space. Technicians fill all cracks and holes with hydraulic cement to seal them and then apply a waterproof coating of masonry cement to the inside of the basement walls. This coating prevents further water intrusion in most cases. Additional protection is gained by digging around the outside of the foundation walls and applying a thick coating of liquid rubber. This inventory product is designed to waterproof foundations even in extreme situations and provides a dry basement in all but the absolute worst disasters.

SERVPRO of Rexburg / Rigby has decades of experience in Idaho when it comes to keeping your basement dry. We understand that it is essential to the overall support structure of your home and use every skill and equipment item in our inventory to provide a safe environment for you and your family. If you need our help, call today at (208) 356-0263.