Van Meter Original Town, Van Meter: Foundation Work Done Right

What Foundation and Waterproofing Challenges Affect Van Meter Original Town?

The Raccoon River sets a high water table under Van Meter's original core, and that groundwater is the defining problem for its oldest foundations. In the historic heart of town, early-20th-century homes sit on stone and masonry over ground that stays wet in the river valley.

Porous historic foundations wick that moisture straight up out of the saturated soil, and much of this housing stock sits over crawlspaces where the damp collects and lingers. Unsealed, a crawlspace this close to the water table stays humid year-round, and that moisture rises into the wood framing above — softening and eventually rotting the floor joists that carry the house.

JLB's fix here centers on encapsulation, and it's where the company does more than most. We seal the crawlspace with a heavy vapor barrier and closed-cell spray foam to lock the ground moisture out, and — the JLB difference — we treat both the crawlspace and the basement where a home has both, twice the protection for less than competitors charge to seal just one. The wicking masonry is damp-proofed as part of the job.

For an original Van Meter home over the river valley's high water table, a sealed crawlspace is what keeps the frame above it sound. We encapsulate against the moisture the ground gives off — stopping joist rot before it reaches the house.

In Van Meter's original core the damage hides in the crawlspace — damp stone and joists taking on moisture from the river-valley water table long before anything shows upstairs. We seal that space first, because encapsulating the crawlspace, and the basement where there is one, in a single visit is what stops the wicking from reaching the frame.