Before & After Photos

This residential customer in Brielle, NJ, had used Cowleys to help him deal with crawl space flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy, the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. At that time. the homeowner contracted Cowleys to remove his moldy insulation and install an encapsulation system. Crawl space encapsulation transforms damp vented crawlspaces that are often fraught with mold and pest issues into clean, dry, attractive and energy efficient spaces.

This heart of our encapsulation system is a super durable 20 mil thick polyethylene vapor barrier that blocks moisture, outside air, and pests from getting into your crawl space. We also use other crawl space products as necessary, such as vent covers, drainage matting, and commercial-grade dehumidifiers.

Following this encapsulation, the homeowner no longer had water or moisture issues in his crawl space. According to him, his crawl space was now as dry as a bone. However, at the time, he elected to not replace the moldy water-damaged insulation that we removed. Not surprisingly, for a few winter seasons, he had cold floors above the crawl space. He decided this was no longer tolerable, and he called us back to install some good insulation.

We recommended JM ComfortTerm insulation, a Formaldehyde-free fiberglass insulation with R-values up to R-30 (12” thickness). Its batts and rolls are wrapped in plastic for less dust kick-up during installation and also has a vapor-retarder plastic facing. Now, with the crawl space insulation job completed, this home will be more comfortable, and this thermal envelope will help with the home’s indoor air quality and dramatically improve the home’s energy efficiency.

A homeowner who resides in a residential community that we service in Brielle, NJ, noticed mouse droppings in his utility room and contacted the property manager, who relayed the problem to us. I was immediately dispatched to resolve the rodent infestation. Mice are overwintering pests that look to invade our homes to escape the harsh outdoor elements as temperatures drop. 

Upon arrival, I grabbed my flashlight and started my inspection in the basement. Rodents often find their way first into a home’s basement or crawl space before finding their way to the living areas of the home, especially the kitchen where they forage for food. Suffice it to say, once your home has mice, they won’t hesitate to make themselves at home, depositing their droppings everywhere and crawling all over and under every counter and appliance in your kitchen. My primary concern during a rodent inspection is finding potential entry points. I conduct a thorough inspection of the sill plate where utility, water, and electric lines of through the sill to the outside. Often, I find gaps in these areas, and it doesn’t take much of an opening. A mouse only needs a gap of about 1/4”, or the size of a dime, for them to squeeze through. Cowleys technicians emphasize and proactive exclusion for the long-term elimination of rodents in a home. It’s all well and good to set bait traps to get rid of the mice in your home, but you also need to locate and seal all of the entry points to stop more mice from making themselves at home.

During my inspection, I located two utility lines from the AC unit where the caulking had deteriorated, leaving a gap for mice to enter the home. These problem gaps were a definite entry point for mice and they needed to be closed. I sealed these gaps around the utility lines with chew-proof copper mesh. After I was done, no more mice would enter this particular home. Going forward, if these mice want to stay warm in a home, they’ll need to bother someone else!

Homeowners in Oceanport, NJ, had an ongoing problem with rodents gaining entry into their crawl space. Usually, rodents will first gain entry inside a home by locating openings around the foundation. And, for mice, it doesn’t take much. These tiny animals that weigh less than an ounce can easily squeeze through gaps as small as a dime. Common rodent entry points are gaps around pipes and wires, garage doors that don’t fully close or are missing weatherstripping, and, the entry point with this home — an access door to the crawl space that no longer did its job. As you can see in the photo, this metal access door had seen better days. It was warped, rusted and had an opening that was an open invitation for rodents. Mice have a distinct knack for finding weaknesses around the foundation, and it was not surprising that they exploited this one. 

Cowleys has a contractor division that is staffed by an experienced, professional home repair and renovation crew that handles a variety of crawl space improvements, up to and including complete crawl space encapsulation for homeowners with chronic water, moisture, and humidity issues. We also happily handle smaller projects such as this one. Here, we removed the damaged crawl space door and replaced it with an air-tight Everlast door. 

Everlast covers help block outdoor air and moisture from entering the crawl space, which can trigger mold formation and cause wood rot and structural damage. However, these doors are also an effective barrier against rodents and other pests. They are made with a hard durable plastic that stands up to the harshest outdoor elements that we face in New Jersey. 

Everlast vent covers are a major improvement over wood or metal doors. These maintenance-free doors will not rot, warp, crack, or rust, and they never need to be painted. Also, they can be installed against either wood framing or masonry. Although these doors create a solid barrier preventing mice and any other pests using this common access point, for humans, they allow for easy crawl space access. These doors have four large easy-to-grip knobs that you or a repair person can twist off in seconds. Homeowners have commented that they wished opening up pickle jars were this easy! As you can see from the before and after photos, this Everlast crawl space door was far more than just a rodent barrier. It was a major aesthetic improvement for the home’s exterior perimeter.

Two members of Cowleys home improvement crew were dispatched to a home in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, to help a homeowner who had a few pieces of aluminum trim blow off during a recent storm. Your home’s siding and trim are an essential barrier to protect the underlying fascia from the harsh outdoor elements (wind, rain, and snow). If not repaired, fascia damage could lead to wood rot and a weakening of the underlying structures eventually causing the soffit to collapse. Exposing your home’s underlying building materials can also lead to other problems such as mold formation and wildlife entry. Wildlife like squirrels and raccoons often take advantage of structural weaknesses in a home to gain entry. Homes kept in good repair are less prone to wildlife infestations. 

We replaced the missing aluminum trim with new white high performance exterior cellular PVC trim that we custom bent to fit her home. This material is tough stuff! It won’t rot, cup, split, twist, or warp and pests like carpenter bees (not to mention woodpeckers that peck away looking for carpenter bee larvae) can’t bore holes into it.  As you can see by the photos, our installed trim blended in perfectly with the house. You could not even tell that any repairs had been made after we were done. The homeowner was relieved that the trim was replaced, it looked great, and most importantly, her home was protected from the outdoor elements as we head into the harsh days of winter.

A homeowner in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, had a few ridge cap shingles blow off in a storm. Virtually any steep-sloped roof has a ridge at the top of the roof where the different sides of the roof meet. Also. roof designs commonly have sloped ridges (hips) where roof planes meet at an angle. These ridges and hips the highest stress areas of your roof. We use ridge cap shingles to provide a complete watershedding system on your roof. These shingles are an extra strong barrier at this crucial juncture where rainfall first hits your shingles. Should these shingles go AWOL, it does not take long for rain or melting snow to start causing roof leaks and all sorts of property damage from water entry into your home. Also, these missing shingles are an “open house” sign for all sorts of critters that looking for a warm, protected place like your attic to escape the harsh outdoor elements.  

For this home improvement project, we replaced the missing shingles. We then installed Ridge-Guards over the ridge vents to give extra assurance to the homeowner that similar roof problems would not happen again. Just as ridge cap shingles are crucial to a home’s roofing system, so are ridge vents. These vents allow damp, warm air to escape from the attic. By doing so, they increase your homes energy efficiency and protect asphalt shingles from overheating and warping in the summer. Unfortunately, ridge vents can be a vulnerable “weak spot” in a roof. They are often exploited by wildlife, especially squirrels, raccoons, and bats, to gain entry into the attic, and they can be the source of roof leaks as well. With Ridge-Guards installed over the ridge vents, this homeowner now has an effective permanent solution to ward off these types of ridge vent problems.