Our home, which was still under construction, developed mold in the crawlspace before completion. I researched options including YouTube videos and chose CSNinjas because they offered soda blasting, which appeared to be a more thorough method and less damaging than chemical applications. It was 12k more than other quotes, 4k of which was "accessibility" fee because of the steep lot and 15' high space. First step was to run a temporary dehumidifier for 6-8 weeks to dry out the wood. Their contract states that wood moisture content must be 20% or less, and relative humidity less than 60%. It also states "No outside water intrusion and no standing water or will not work". They came to perform the service in early January 2025. I was told the dehumidifier had done it's job and the space was dry enough to proceed. Icy conditions prevented them from proceeding. They came back at the end of January. After performing the work, they told me the space looked great and would be one to display proudly on the fridge. This is a vacation home, so I was not onsite to inspect the work. I trusted them and paid the balance (only option provided was credit card which cost another $800 in bank fees - they never heard of ACH). The following week, we received a call from our electrician describing wet conditions and mold covering the soggy fiberglass insulation. I wish I could post pictures. There was an ongoing water intrusion problem that they never told us about. By their own contract, they should have refused to do the work because the wood was 100% saturated in several places. They made excuses like they thought our builder knew and was working on it (yes they should have). CSNinjas visited the site 3 times over a period of 2-3 months and saw nothing being done to correct it. Why not mention it to me - hey what's going on with your builder here? Why did they proceed when the moisture levels were too high? The PM's excuse to me was the dehumidifier will remove 80 pints a day. Yes, that would help with relative humidity, but does nothing to the prevent wood moisture every time it rained. Proceeding, under those conditions, defies all logic in my opinion. I wrote to the original founder, but received no response from him. As for the water issues, the builder found Helene damage and some flashing issues. The repair process caused rips in the brand new vapor barrier, another reason they should have informed me of the problem so that we could get it repaired before they performed the work. Then it came time for Avery County building inspection. Part of the work failed. Our builder explained to the PM what Avery county wanted done, but he denied anything was not up to code and refused to comply with the inspector or defend their position directly with Avery County, according to what the builder told me about the conversation. It cost approx $1000 to get another company to make the changes required to get our certificate of occupancy. Then, several months later, my spouse went to check on the crawlspace, and found the vapor barrier was falling off the walls. I informed them of this issue thru the BBB, but received no response. I then contacted another company about repairs, but they wanted $8000 to repair. The reason is that the vapor barrier will have to be replaced because the crew will have to walk on it to get to the walls for repairs which they expect will cause too much damage. You can't walk on the flimsy vapor barrier without causing holes or rips. It's almost half as thick as barriers other companies use. What good is it if you can't walk on it? Our plumbing and HVAC is in the space, so access will always be necessary. This account is my own opinion and factual account as best I can relay. I depend on reviews from others, and hope I can spare anyone else the expense and misery. I don't take posting a negative review lightly. The vapor barrier falling off the walls and lack of response to this issue was the last straw. read more
