DBS Before & After Photos

This Ely, MN home was significantly sinking on one end of the home. This caused settling in the foundation, creating cracks in the basement floor and allowing water to reach the home. Worried about the issue getting worse, they reached out to DBS for a permanent solution. 

DBS Design Specialist Henrik Makitalo is an expert in foundation repair. After visiting the home and providing a free, no-obligation estimate for the work done, Henrik determined that the home needed assistance from our structural, waterproofing, and concrete repair teams. 

First, our Basement Repair Production Manager Kevin Steffey and his crew excavated the exterior of the home in order to perform a lift procedure. Our team installed 32 push piers total at the base of the home on the exterior and interior of the home. These galvanized steel piers were then hydraulicaly driven into the ground to weight-bearing soils. The weight of the home was then transferred to the competent soil.

After this was completed, our team was tasked with protecting the outside of the home against water and condensation with SentrySeal® rubber membrane. On the home's interior, our concrete repair production crew was able to work through specific areas targeted by Henrik that needed to be raised and leveled. 

The homeowners were happy with the work done and can now depend on a safe and comfortable home for years to come. 

A homeowner from Ely, MN reached out to DBS for help with their damp crawl space. One of our Design Specialists went to the home to run a free no-obligation estimate appointment. After a thorough inspection, our Design Specialist gave the homeowner a free quote for our Crawl Space Encapsulation Service. One of our crews installed our crawl space products to thoroughly waterproof and insulate the space, giving peace of mind to the homeowner. 

This Ely, MN cabin was drafty during the winter and humid during the summer. The owners knew they needed to do something to improve the cabin's energy efficiency and get rid of pesky ice dams during the winter months.

DBS Design Specialist Henry Jungbauer visited the cabin and provided a thorough inspection, including the attic and crawl space. Henry designed an insulation project that would prevent energy loss in the form of the stack effect. The stack effect is essentially the process of outside air entering your home via your basement or crawl space, in this case, traveling through your home and leaking back outside via your attic. This free flow of air means the cabin was working hard to keep itself warm, driving energy bills up and creating ice dams.

DBS Foreman Orrin Sundberg led this insulation project of this Ely, MN cabin. After insulating the crawl space rim joists with spray foam, our insulation crew moved into the attic. They removed the existing batting insulation and air-sealed the space with an inch of closed-cell spray foam. From there, they applied 18 inches of Tru-Soft™ cellulose. They also installed Tru-Soft™ in the attic's hard-to-reach vaulted ceiling using a technique called dense packing, to provide a consistent radiant barrier.

The insulation installed in the attic and crawl space will prevent the stack effect from reoccurring, resulting in less money spent on propane. You'll see in the before and after photos the difference in ice dam build-up from 1 year to the next.

The homeowners were happy with the work our insulation crew did and now have a solid solution to stand up to cold Minnesota winters.

The owners of this 1980s Ely, MN home experienced issues with sagging floors and freezing pipes because of their crawl space. After viewing an insulation ad for DBS on a local television station, the owner reached out in hopes of finding a solution. 

Design Specialist Henry Jungbauer went to the home to conduct a free no-obligation estimate. After a thorough inspection, Henry informed the owners about DBS systems that would solve their problems.

Foreman Nick Woods II led the installation for this project with help from a crew. Together they installed SmartJack®supports to level the sagging floors and encapsulated the crawl space for better energy efficiency. In the crawl space, they laid down a water vapor barrier to waterproof the space. Then the crew air-sealed the crawl space with a waterproof polyurethane spray foam to thoroughly insulate the area. 

Now that the issues in the crawl space have been corrected, the owners can relax comfortably in their home without worrying about high energy bills or floors caving in.

The owners of this cabin in Ely, MN experienced issues with mold damage. There was a musty smell throughout the home and the owners replaced their flooring thinking that was the root of the issue. In hopes of finding a solution, they reached out to DBS.

Design Specialist Henry Jungbauer went to the property to conduct a free no-obligation estimate for the homeowners. After a thorough inspection, Henry educated the owners on the 3-layer Crawl Space Encapsulation service offered by DBS.

Nick Woods II led the installation of this project with assistance from a crew. Together they cleaned out the old falling insulation and laid down a layer of drainage matting to assist the flow of water underneath the insulation. Panels of TerraBlock™ insulation were installed over the drainage matting to help with the conservation of heat in the winter and cool air in the summer. The last layer in the 3-step encapsulation process is installing a vapor barrier made of a thick, white poly material called CleanSpace®. The vertical walls in the crawl space were sprayed with a waterproof polyurethane spray foam to air-seal the space. 

The owners should notice that their cabin is much warmer in the wintertime and that the mysterious musty smell has been resolved. They will be much happier spending time in their cabin knowing that their space is promoting a healthy and more comfortable environment.