From the Dirt Up: Our Story

My name is Nick Lafferty, and this is the story of how EncapSolutions came to be.

Our Story

EncapSolutions didn’t start out as a business idea. It started long before that — in the kind of work our family has always done.

Our great-grandfather, Elmer Lafferty, ran a waterproofing business back when everything was hands-on and word-of-mouth. His son, our grandfather Warren, carried that forward through Absecon Waterproofing, working alongside his son John — our uncle.

They didn’t need to talk about quality. They showed it. If they touched it, it held. That was understood. That’s the foundation we come from.

Where the Work Became Ours

Our first look into moisture and restoration came through our older brother, who worked at ServPro. He’s no longer with us, but that was the moment we first saw how water can affect the inside of a home, not just the outside. It stuck with us — not in business, but in mindset.

In 2017, I started working at HS Restoration, and that’s where crawlspace work became real. Not just physical work — work that mattered.

We learned under Joe Raine and William Huettl, who didn’t teach us just how to install material — they taught us why crawlspaces behave the way they do. How moisture moves. How homes breathe. How fixing the source is the only solution that lasts.

In 2020, Kyle joined HS under those same expectations — slow down, think first, solve correctly, and take pride in work no one else will ever see.

Those years shaped us. That’s where our standard was formed.

Why We Started EncapSolutions

By 2022, HS was preparing to be sold. We knew the direction was going to change. The standard was inevitably going to shift. And we had a choice to make:

Stay and adapt — or leave and continue doing things right.

We left before the ownership changed hands.

Not out of conflict — but out of respect. Respect for where we came from. Respect for the people who taught us. Respect for the work itself.

EncapSolutions was started to continue the standard — the one Elmer set, the one Warren and John lived, the one Joe and William reinforced.

Who We Are Now

We focus solely on crawlspaces because that’s where the home starts. The air. The structure. The comfort. The efficiency. It all traces back down there.

So we work where most people don’t want to — and we do it right.

No shortcuts. No pressure tactics. No disappearing when the job is done.

Just honest work, done carefully, so it lasts.

From the dirt up.