Crawlspace Doctor

Our crawlspace was a dank and musty place. There had been a leak under the foundation footing due to an inept plumber. Moisture over the years had resulted in mold and fungal growth on the floor joists. We are beginning major renovations on the house and after repairing the foundation leak I started investigating how to dry out the crawlspace as it was still very humid and musty smelling. When I built the house the conventional wisdom was to use foundation vents to keep air moving under the house to keep it dry. I installed extra vents during construction thinking "more was better". I have now found that this theory is flawed and that vents allow warm humid air under the hose and actually promote the conditions I had been fighting. The air handler for my downstairs heat pump was dripping with condensation during warm months. After reading numerous articles online, I decided that crawlspace encapsulation was the way to go. I had also read on numerous forums about the nightmares that some folks had dealt with when they chose the wrong contractor. I joined Angie's List specifically to find a contractor to do the job.
I emailed Crawlspace Doctor on a Sunday evening after reading their reviews. Brad Dehring called me promptly on Monday morning and asked if he could help. He explained the theory behind crawlspace encapsulation and I made an appointment for an evaluation and estimate. Brad arrived right on time and inspected the crawlspace. He then explained what needed to be done, what I could expect after the job was completed, how long it would it take to complete and the cost. I signed the contract that morning. There was a small amount of mold and a good amount of fungal growth that would need remediation. Brad recommended AdvantaClean of the Triad to do the job. Brad put me in touch with the owner, Dave Cotten and the job was started and completed a few days later. Prior to any work being done I had decided to replace the sixteen year old water heaters installed in the crawlspace. I asked Brad if I should have this done before or after the liner was installed. He told me that it would be ideal to do it prior to installing the liner and then made the two hour round trip to the house just to deliver some liner for the plumbers to put under the new heaters. Brad and his two man crew were on the job immediately after the AvantaClean crew was finished.Brad called me every day to report on the progress being made and to inform me what was planned for the next day. During the job I discovered that my HVAC system would need replacement and was worried that the HVAC contractor's crew might damage the liner during installation. Brad placed indoor/outdoor carpet in the ares that they would be working to prevent any damage to the liner at no extra charge. The job also included installing a metered air vent into my HVAC supply line to condition the crawlspace area. My HVAC contractor was going to install this vent while inspecting my system but discovered that due to the placement of the duct work, there was not a central location available and suggested installing two vents. The vent was supplied by Brad and only one vent was included in the contract price. Brad supplied the extra vent at no additional cost.
The crawlspace is now absolutely beautiful! It's cool and the humidity level is now on par to the inside of the house. I'm not exaggerating when saying that you could put a television and recliner down there and be just as comfortable as you would be in your living room.
Brad and his crew were professional, courteous and a pleasure to deal with. The work was done as agreed to and at the contract price. I highly recommend them.

Crawlspace Doctor along with Rainbow International (a part of the same company) came out and evaluated the damage.  My homeowners insurance covered most of it minus the deductible.  They were professional and efficient and did an excellent job of cleaning up and removing the plastic.  Crawlspace Doctor then came out and replaced the plastic in the crawlspace.

Brad and his crew completely sealed our crawlspace, as well as hauling away a fair amount of debris. They were able to schedule the job within a few weeks, and it took 3 days or so to complete. We had had some moisture problems in the crawlspace previously, all of which have been cleared up. The crew were very professional, and kept us up to speed with their progress. The owner personally followed up with us afterwards to make sure everything was completed to our satisfaction. Overall we were very happy with our experience!

We noticed that our downstairs bedrooms had a musty odor that seemed to be coming from the crawl space so I called Brad from the Crawl Space doctor.  He explained everything that his company would do in an easy-to-understand way.  Brad went into our crawlspace and discovered that we had a guest living there (probably a racoon or possum based on the droppings) and we also had some sink holes & water issues.  He & his assistant showed up when promised and now our crawl space is energy efficient, mold-free and critter-free!  They also even removed the critter droppings!  They were also super fantastic with my curious 3-year old niece who was visiting, as well as both our dogs.  I would HIGHLY recommend them!!

I was having moisture problems, which had led to mold and mildew.  They came out and sealed everything, and also cleaned everything up.  It looks a lot better, and they are coming back out to follow up.  They also gave me a very reasonable price.

Briefly, it went amazingly well.  Our space was nasty, damp, dark, smelly, confined, buggy, moldy, mousy, and snaky.  I got 4 estimates for the job.  Brad's estimate was well below the others and I am sure the quality of his work was much better than the predicted quality of 2 of the 3 higher bidders.  The other bidder who appeared to offer a quality experience was $2600 more expensive and charged $100 (marked down from $179) for an on-site estimate.  No estimate charge from Brad.  One estimate was more than double Brad's.  

When I first contacted Brad he scheduled the inspection for 3 days later.  His inspection and the ensuing discussion took about an hour.  He gave me a detailed written estimate at that point.  He gave me previous customers' contact info, one of whom let me see his newly sealed crawl space.  Once I gave Brad the go ahead, he started the next day.  He and Justin finished the job in 8 work days.  They were careful to minimize disruption to our home routine.  Most of the time we forgot they were working under the house.  Had Brad not needed to attend to other jobs in progress they would have finished in less than a week. 

As I crawled around the space midway through and after the job I was surprised and delighted at the high quality of the work.  Having renovated a nasty crawl space myself I know It's unpleasant work at best and I truly appreciated these guys attention to detail.  I told them it looked like they gave my space the same effort they would give their own home.  They finished yesterday.  Now that it looks like a hospital room.  Today my 7 yr old daughter and her friend were playing "spy dogs" with their flashlights in the crawl space.  Amazing.

After getting a report from my termite company that i had moisture readings in the joists in my crawl space as high as 21%, i decided i needed to address the problem. i called Brad at Crawl Space Doctor. He inspected the crawl space and got the same high moisture readings. He also measured the humidity levels at 82% while the outside air was only at 70%. He went through what he thought i needed to do, carefully explained everything and gave me the price. i told him i wanted him to do the work and he was out to my house within the week. He kept me informed throughout the process, showed me different aspects of the job, and when the work was finished, took me into the crawl space to show me what had been done.

Brad was great throughout the entire job, always keeping me informed and letting me know how much more work they had to complete. The crawl space is in almost livable condition. The house had a musty smell to it, but that is now gone. We were most likely breathing in some of the mold that had been growing under the house. The humidity levels are down to 55%, and should stay at that level in both winter and summer.

i will call Brad again in a heartbeat if i move to another home and have a similar problem. He is the kind of guy that i think people on Angie's list are looking for. He is punctual, honest, straightforward, and true to his word.

We were told our crawlspace was in need of serious repair.  We got a couple of different quotes and options from different Companies including the Crawlspace Doctor.  After research we decided to go with Crawlspace Doctor and the Closed Air Supply Crawl Space.  His prices were the most reasonable and he was also very friendly, professional,  helpful and knowledgeable from the start.  He answered all of our questions and was willing to answer more.  He did excellent work in a timely and professional manner.  We would use Brad with Crawlspace Doctor again in the future if necessary.