Steven Rokes

Homeowners in Chrisney, IN were purchasing this home. When they had an inspection done, the inspection report flagged the crawl space for having mold. With one of their children having terrible allergies, they knew that something had to be done before moving into this home. Their realtor told them about Healthy Spaces Fix It To List It program which offers priority scheduling and will only perform a full evaluation on what's listed on the inspection report. 

In the before photo, you can still see the mold on the wood. Mold issues can dramatically lower the value of your home, and any house with significant mold problems will be difficult to sell. Additionally, mold can lead to serious structural damage to your home, which can be expensive and unsafe.

In the after photo, you can see that our product has been applied. It foams on contact with the affected area to provide visual identification of the problems & allows us to clean and restore the structural surfaces in the crawl space. Some companies might only clean with disinfectants, addressing only surface soil load. The problem with this is it only cleans the surface soil load, leaving behind dirt, debris, pollen, mold. The product that we use cleans beyond the soil load and accomplishes total source removal leaving behind a contaminate free surface. 

Homeowners in Chrisney, IN, are now protected from regrowth and will have a drier, healthier space in their crawl space. 

Fordsville, KY, like most of the surrounding areas has two struggles to deal with: high groundwater levels and lots of dirt floor crawlspaces.  The combination of the two creates a crawlspace mold epidemic that has largely been ignored by many residents until the mold infestation is quite advanced.  After all, how often do we really inspect our crawlspaces?  As you can see here, the mold situation in this Fordsville crawlspace was advanced and causing issues like musty, damp smells throughout the home, increased indoor allergies, and more frequent sinus related and respiratory illnesses.  When the homeowners went to inspect the crawlspace, they discovered that mold was growing over practically every surface in the crawlspace.  The homeowners immediately contacted Healthy Spaces to get the crawlspace remediated.

Donnie Stutesville, a mold remediation expert with Healthy Spaces, came out and inspected the crawlspace.  He recommended a three pronged approach to resolving the crawlspace mold and moisture issues: 

1. Remediate the mold and fungus

2. Remove standing water, debris, and the like

3. Seal the crawlspace with a vapor barrier

Donnie recommended both a mold/fungus treatment and a preventative coating to stop regrowth.  He explained that the mold and fungus treatment would need to be scrubbed off of all surfaces to remove the dead fungi and spores, then that debris would need to be removed prior to coating the entire crawlspace with a preventative solution.  In addition, the crawlspace needed a water removal system with sump pump and a dehumidifier.  Finally, the entire crawlspace needed a powerful vapor barrier installed to prevent the crawlspace from becoming moldy again.  You can see in the after photo that the mold removal was successful and the wood looks great with it's clear preventative coating in place!

During the last year, homeowners in Haubstadt, IN, began having major issues in their basement. It flooded a few times, their existing sump pump overflowed, and the discharge line froze. They wanted to address these issues right away and prevent them from happening again.

Healthy Spaces replaced the failing sump pump with the TripleSafe System with a WaterWatch Alarm and a Battery Back-up. If the primary pump fails for any reason, such as a power outage, the battery back-up system automatically turns on.

The exterior discharge line was also replaced by the IceGuard Sump Pump Discharge Line System, which allows water to escape from a sump pump discharge line it the pipe freezes or becomes blocked for any reason.

These products will keep the homeowners' basement dry all the time!

Homeowners in Evansville, IN were looking at purchasing a home with a crawl space that had issues of groundwater intrusion, relative humidity, and was causing mold growth. 

In the before photo, you can clearly see the fungus growing on the wooden subfloor joists of an Evansville, IN crawl space. The fungus is growing and slowly decomposing the subfloor joist. If left alone over time, the problem could compromise the structural integrity of the subfloor joist. Thankfully, the homeowners were able to work out a deal with the seller who elected to completely destroy the fungus and have it properly removed by Healthy Spaces. 

In the second photo, you can see that the fungus removal has been completed on the subfloor joist. Each joist was individually scrubbed and cleaned on all sides in order to kill the fungus. 

Henderson, KY sits directly along the banks of the Ohio River, which increases the groundwater intrusion, relative humidity, and the chance for mold and fungus growth in crawlspaces. In these two pictures, you can clearly see the fungus growing on the wooden subfloor joists of a Henderson, KY crawlspace. The fungus is growing and slowly decomposing the wood. In time, this problem could compromise the structural integrity of the subfloor joist. Thankfully, the homeowners have elected to completely destroy the fungus and have it properly removed by the Healthy Spaces team. In the second photo, you can see that the fungus removal has been completed on the subfloor joist. Each joist will have to be individually scrubbed and cleaned on all sides in order to kill the fungus. That's only half the battle, though. In order to make sure that the fungus does not return to the crawlspace and repopulate the areas where it was previously, the homeowners will need to have the crawlspace encapsulated. The best crawlspace encapsulation system is CleanSpace, an engineered film that will completely isolate the crawlspace from the dirt beneath and the outside air, allowing the HVAC system for the home to be more efficient and the crawlspace to remain drier, thus reducing the risk for fungus and mold growth.

Mold is never a good thing.  Sometimes, it's caused by a flooding crawlspace, increased groundwater, and other easy to combat issues.  Other times, the source of the moisture feeding the mold is a bit harder to detect.  In this Corydon, KY home, the source of the moisture took several months to discover and by that time, the mold growth was explosive!  The problem began with a small leak in the line coming out from the washing machine.  It was a dripping that traveled along the pipe and was virtually undetectable because it was happening within the walls.  After time, the surrounding area was so moist that the drywall collapsed upon itself at a touch.  The surrounding carpet and pad, subfloor, and pipes were all covered in a thick layer of mold.  

As you can see in the before picture, the mold was growing all over the area, which was hidden beneath the house and was only visible in the crawlspace.  It wasn't until a design specialist from Healthy Spaces took a look at the crawlspace that the damage was finally revealed.  It's suspected that the leak had been occurring for at least 9 months before it was severe enough to be detected.

The after photo shows the amazing difference that the mold remediation team at Healthy Spaces created.  They treated the affected area with Biocide and Forticell to kill the mold, then thoroughly scrubbed every surface to remove the spores and dead mold.  After removing the debris, they made sure the leak had been resolved and were able to repair any damage from the mold in the subfloor.

Homeowner John B., in Albion, IL started noticing water building up in his crawl space. If left alone, humidity and excess moisture can lead to mold growth, wood rot, and pest infestations. Crawl space moisture often migrates upstairs through the "stack effect," contributing to structural damage, musty odors, and high energy bills. 

Our team first had to go in and perform mold remediation. Next our team installed a waterproofing system in the crawl space that included a SmartSump Crawl Space sump pump system and EZ Flow Drainage. The last step was to install a durable vapor barrier made of a 20-mil material similar to a pool liner called CleanSpace. CleanSpace® 20 mil vapor barrier is puncture and tear resistant. An anti-microbial agent is blended into the liner to kill mold and bacteria. John will now have peace of mind knowing that his crawl space in Albion, IL is clean and dry.