What a difference a week makes! My basement encapsulation project isn't quite finished - spray foam insulation is happening today - but it's already been an incredible transformation.

I wrote last week about how poorly our basement had been treated in the past. Thanks to those mistakes, the wooden shelves in the before picture (above, left) were already rotting. (Since the so-called vapor barrier just went around them, rather than underneath them, moisture was wicking directly into the wood.) Evergreen pulled out all the rotten wood and correctly installed a new, durable drainage mat and vapor barrier.

Correct installation included sliding the vapor barrier beneath the oil tank (below, right) instead of just pulling it close to the tank (below, right). Now the barrier is complete, with no air leaks for moisture to sneak around. The space is bright, clean, and shiny - and ready for spray foam!