Case Studies: Rural Hall, NC
Friday, October 31st, 2014
Challenge
Rural Hall, North Carolina is home to some of the most beautiful historic houses and buildings. This home, built in the 1920s, has seen some major changes above ground, but the basement seemed to be stuck in the old days. Years before the new homeowner noticed the severity of the problem, water had been seeping through the basement block walls creating large pools of water that would stick around for days. This added moisture created a very high relative humidity and facilitated the growth of mold and mildew. To create a healthy, safe and usable space, the homeowner gave Tar Heel Basement Systems a call to get it fixed once and for all. The home’s basement was built peculiarly with many corners, twists and turns so our solution was just as unique.
Solution
Systems design specialist and sales manager Garrett Atkinson, foreman Orville Schoenfield and his crew worked together seamlessly to achieve a dry and healthy basement for the home’s new owner. A BasementGutter french drain system was the first to be installed around the perimeter of the basement. 140 feet of this drain was placed on top of the footer of the home after the concrete had been jack hammered up and discarded. The drain was then cemented over, leaving multiple inspection ports open for future check ups. More inspection ports were used in this basement than a typical basement to ensure that the multiple corners and edges do not trap water or debris causing a back up. An extra feeder line was also installed through the basement floor directly to the sump pump to further address this problem.
120 square feet of CrawlSeal vapor barrier was installed over top of the water stain lines on the block walls to guide infiltrating water into the BasementGutter drain and out of the home. The vapor barrier will also brighten up the area, covering up the unsightly stains. These water stains give the inspector and installation crew a good idea of where the water is coming from and how to prevent it at the source. Weep holes were also drilled into the block to provide relief to any built up water pressure.
The SafeDri sump pump, with the protective FreezeGuard feature, was installed as well to take all of the collected water and transport it out of the home all year round. One of the basement supports had to be removed to properly install the BasementGutter drains but was then replaced by an extended IntelliJack. Though typically used in crawlspaces, IntelliJacks may also be used in basements to add extra support or to address settling in places far away from the footer. After two installation days, the job was completed and the customer could not be any happier. The home is now dry and healthy and will stand in Rural Hall as a historical home for many years to come.
Project Summary
Installing Contractor: Tar Heel Basement Systems
Systems Design Specialist: Garrett Atkinson
Foreman: Orville Schoenfield
