Dry Doc

With over a quarter-century worth of experience in the management of water systems, DryZone’s proprietor, Gary Lawson, is kind of like a doctor of dryness — and the patient whose life he’s saving is your home.
DryZone

Everyone intends to be appropriately vigilant when it comes to the welfare of their home. But there are times that a heightened vigilance is called for. Times like these. Times that saw record-setting precipitation, both in the form of blizzard snowfall and torrential rain. Fortunately, there are professionals like Gary Lawson and Bill Anderson of DryZone who are ready, willing and able to make sure that your home has a clean bill of health.
“All the precipitation we had this winter made the groundwater rise to levels that can easily invade crawl spaces and pool there long enough before it recedes that the damage is done if left unaddressed,” said Lawson, who spent over a quarter-century managing water and pipe systems before opening DryZone, LLC with partner Bill Anderson in 2006. “Mold sets in, but so does wood rot, which is potentially more devastating because the natural enzymes in the wood react with moisture in the air and consume the wood in your home from the inside out, often before you’re ever aware of it. And by the time you are, it can be too late.”
But don’t think the problem all of us homeowners face is restricted to severe winters and rainy springs, because what we really must keep on the look out for occurs all year long.
“Excessive snowfall and rain are definitely issues,” Lawson said, “but the real culprit is moisture, of which rain and snow are only two examples. Just as key to your home’s structural integrity and overall health value is summer humidity, which also supports the kind of microbial life that is destructive to your home in the long term.”
So just put some vents in the crawl space, then, right? Wrong. As Lawson explains it, that just makes matters worse.
“The main reason vents don’t work,” Lawson said, “is because they introduce warmer air from outside to the cooler air that resides in your crawl space. When warmer air interacts with cooler air, that cooling-down process promotes an increase in humidity. And the increase can be dramatic: For every degree of cooling that moisture-laden air experiences, the humidity level rises over 2 percent.
“So, if warmer air cools down 10 degrees after it has interacted with the cooler air of your crawl space,” Lawson continued, “the humidity level that results will be at least 20 percent — and that’s not good for your home’s longevity.”
Another misconception is that older homes are more vulnerable to the effects of moisture than those of more recent construction.
“There are certain experts in wood and research to support them that the newer wood being used in modern constructions is grown too fast and that the result of such rapid cultivation is a reduced resistance to the effects of mold and rot,” Lawson pointed out. “Also, older homes tend to have crawl spaces at grade level, which allows for superior natural ventilation; whereas many newer homes have sub-grade-level crawl spaces, which can complicate long-term moisture management, even if the space does have proper ventilation.”
The good — make that great — news is that DryZone provides state-of-the-art basement waterproofing and crawl-space encapsulation products and services all over Delaware and the Maryland Eastern Shore area. It is an authorized dealer for the incomparable Basement Systems, the world’s largest and most reputable network of basement-waterproofing and crawl-space contractors, which boasts an exclusive, nationally backed lifetime warranty on the fitness of their products.
“Being an authorized Basement and Crawlspace Systems dealer is definitely a feather in our cap,” Lawson said with equal parts pride and modesty, “but we also offer about the best-trained staff you’re going to find anywhere in the area, and that’s just as important.”
In fact, DryZone recently added two new system designers and a foreman to meet an ever-increasing demand for their services. Lawson himself, meanwhile, was preparing to attend not one but two seminars, in Connecticut and Nebraska, which are intended to improve even this 25-year-plus veteran’s knowledge of the art and science of his craft.

And it’s precisely all that training and experience that make DryZone your home’s one-stop doctor for all things that go on under your feet. In addition to crawl-space encapsulation and basement waterproofing, DryZone offers foundation stabilization and repair, basement finishing, piering systems, waterguarding, dehumidifier consultation and installation, French drains, sump pumps, wall anchors and a variety of other services to numerous to list. They also offer flexible financing terms, including same-as-cash financing for qualified homeowners.
DryZone has also ramped up its commercial division in recent months. Team leaders Bill Anderson and Jason Harman are equipped with industry-leading SupportWorks products to reinforce and stabilize the walls and foundation of your small-to-midsize commercial building.

Call DryZone for a free inspection and estimate, and let DryZone keep your home, or your commercial building, afloat. DryZone is located at 115 Atlantic Ave., Milton, Del. Its toll-free number is 888-617-6755. Visit www.dryzone.com for more details, or e-mail info@dryzone.com.