I'd talked to sales people for five contractors about my damp, moldy crawl space on my new-to-me 1957 house, before I pulled the trigger in early 2021 and signed with Olympic. Everyone agreed the space was damp, moldy, and had some past water penetration. Every time it rained, the house just smelled... gross. The home's vented crawl spaces were cold in the winter, and a drag on my AC in the summer. It was actually the polar vortex that was the last straw, when I was worried about pipes freezing even with power and heat working.
Before I even talked to their consultant, Olympic sent me an extensive booklet of measures they might suggest for my home. I am the grandson of a civil engineer and a former board member for a development with water penetration issues -- I know a thing or two and had extensively researched what I was likely to need. Olympic's material confirmed they were going to be suggesting something that lined up in principle with my expectations for the project.
Ross got in that gnarly space -- with appropriate protective gear -- and told me exactly how bad the space was. Photographs of the mold, the old water damage, etc. He scoped out the project, to the square foot, telling me exactly what would be installed and why, and gave me a final dollar amount that didn't move by a cent during the project.
He was pretty adamant about suggesting a sump pump, showing me pictures of what he said was evidence of prior water intrusion. I hadn't seen it -- who goes down in their crawl space during a rain -- but took his word for it and ordered it installed. A few weeks later, it rained more than 4". My entire yard is practically a pond, but the crawl space is dry -- not a drop of moisture -- and the humidity is holding steady. Most amazingly, after all that rain, the house doesn't smell awful!
The energy efficiency of the sealed, dehumidified crawl space has improved dramatically over the prior vented space. My air conditioner and furnace run far less often, and my home stays more comfortable during the warmest part of the day. When it's colder, my floors stay warm, because the crawl space isn't leaking the house's heat out the vents. You wouldn't leave your windows open all year, but crawl space vents are basically the same thing under your house. No more! Even my hot water -- which travels under the house on its way to the tap -- is warmer, faster. The system is a huge improvement for the home.
The install team was professional, friendly, explained things carefully, and left my home and crawl space clean. It was truly like they weren't even there. Even the work itself wasn't too disruptive: a little drilling and hammering on one day, but I was able to work in my office above the crawl space. The only time I did have to leave the house was during the actual mold remediation -- those are some strong chemicals -- but the team advised me of that beforehand. They had to stop work a couple times due to severe storms and an equipment failure with a sprayer during the mold remediation, but it was a smooth process. The installers respected my home to the utmost degree. read more
