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Originally Posted by The Phantom Gourmand
After a lot of thought and consideration, we have decided to not lift the house. It's funny how some of the local contractors work in the Lakes Region.....we reached final negotiations....worked out pricing and details etc. I asked for a final contract, told him we are ready to pull the trigger, and then never heard from the contractor again, even after several calls. Just imagine having the house in the air and a "missing" contractor....I wasn't willing to chance it.
Anyways, what I am now looking for is somebody who can seal my crawlspace to fix a moisture issue. There is a foundation in place...more of a kneewall I guess, and the crawl space slopes from the front of the house to the back. I can stand in a crouched position at the lower part of the slope and crawl on hands and knees at the front of the space. Nowhere is a belly crawl needed.
I was thinking of hiring somebody to put down a plastic barrier and then a coat of concrete to help eliminate the moisture problem. The new concrete floor would have to be "stepped" because of the slope.
Does anybody have a recommendation for a contractor who might be interested in helping us out?
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Phantom, keep the new concrete out of the mix, it is not needed if all you are looking to do is remove some moisture. A rat slab will only be a benifit if you would like to use the space for storage. You will make the issue worse unless you do a few extra things to the space to get the moisture out. Concrete is equivelent to a sponge, it absorbs, holds and releases moisture all the time, often time it will create humidity as well and that is the real issue with standing water inside a home. Vapor will penetrate almost everything, water will not. Instead of spending money on the concrete, put it toward a heavy duty dehumidifier (not the kind you buy at HD or Lowes) and a few other measures listed below.
This project is going to require three processes:
First deal with any mold or standing moisture within the space. Mold remediation can be handled by yourself if need be, but it is a good idea to have someone use a thermal imaging camera on the framing, that will show you any mold that might be within the wood framing. There are a few folks that will do this service as a stand alone service. While you are at it have them scan the rest of the house to see if you have insulation issues that you could address down the road, it will not cost you extra and while you have them there, you might as well.
Second, hang a commercial dehumidifier from the floor framing and have it drained into a sealed and vented drain line. Outside of the space for obviouse reasons. This unit can be supplied and installed by any HVAC contractor that you trust and does good work.
Third, install your vapor barrier over the dirt floor in one continuous sheet (no seams) be sure to use an expanding oil based sealant at the concrete to vapor connections, Geocell is a great product for this (not a lot of fun to work with, makes a big mess and you will be covered in adhesive strings by the time it is complete). Apply a liberal bead around the foundation about 4-6" above grade and press the vapor barrier into it as you go. Also forgot to mention, cut and fit the VB before you start glueing.
Do not be afraid to tackle this project yourself, if you do not have mold then you are in great shape, if you do then there are some things that you can do depending on how bad and what type you have.
I at one point was certified in Black Mold Abatement in my property management days, but I believe that cert. has elapsed, anyway send me a PM if you have this issue and I can tell you how to handle the treating of this.
Hire a HVAC to install the dehumid in the space and then install the vapor barrier yourself. The last crawlspace that we did this to cost $14,000.00. That was for a 1200 SF crawl space approx. 5 FT high, included removal of standing water, mold abatement, a small amount of structural repair, removal and installation of new insulation in the floor system, installation of the dehumidification system and sealing the floor with vapor barrier. This was probably more extreme than what you are thinking, but there really was not a lot of mold or mold damage in this basement, but the entire underside of the structure was exposed to this for about 10 years.
What is mentioned above will only remidy your issue as long as your crawlspace is fully wrapped by a concrete foundation and has no openings or walk out or wood framed walls to the exterior, if that is the case, send me a PM and I will describe the different things you can do to repair your situation.
Jmen24