Cowleys Pest Services Case Studies: While the owner's away burst pipe wreaks havoc in crawl space. Crawl space repair in Delran, NJ

This homeowner in Delran Township in Burlington County, a beautiful town adjacent to the Delaware River, went on vacation. Unfortunately, upon returning home, he was given an unfortunate surprise. A water pipe had burst and about six inches of water had accumulated throughout the floor of his crawl space.  

There was also a small spot of mold growth that had started to form on a floor joint toward the back of the house. Once a home has a water or moisture problem, mold inevitably follows. And it doesn’t take long. In moist, humid conditions, some molds will start colonizing in as little as 24 hours. Fortunately, this water intrusion was caught early so the mold growth was localized. We will be coming back after the encapsulation to treat the mold with our MoldExterm system.

For this Delran home, the crawl space encapsulation crew installed a thick, tear-resistant vapor barrier liner to prevent moisture from passing through the floor and concrete walls. Next, we needed to deal with dehumidification — the most important long-term preventative measure for controlling dangerous crawl space moisture.  For this home, we installed a commercial-grade SaniDry CX dehumidifier. Specifically designed for crawl spaces and mid-sized basements, these compact dehumidifiers can operate in temperatures as low as 40 degrees F. (For larger areas, the SaniDry XP model is recommended.) These powerful maintenance-free dehumidifiers are much more powerful than traditional dehumidifiers, and are able to extract close to 14 gallons of water per day at 80 degrees F. These dehumidifiers do not require human intervention. They operate automatically, turning on and off according to a built-in hygrometer that measures indoor relative humidity. These machines don’t have a water tray; instead, they connect directly into the drainage system so they never need to be emptied. 

Finally, we installed a smart sump pump. The sump pumps we install as part of our crawl space waterproofing system are the best on the market, built with top-quality motors and components designed to handle high water volume and long run times. They also have a battery backup system so they will continue to work even if you lose power. The pumps are housed in a durable plastic sump pump liner with an airtight cover so you don’t have to deal with an ugly open hole that can attract insects and rodents.  

The homeowner was extremely happy with his new crawl space. According to the customer, he had been dealing with crawl space moisture and water problems for years. This latest incident, a burst pipe, was a blessing in disguise because it motivated him to fix his crawl space once and for all.