If you’re looking for information on Waterproofing Basement Walls, this has it all.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 by admin
When you are finishing a basement, waterproofing basement walls is a useful thing to do. Moisture entering through the walls of the basement is the main reason that area of your house is more damp than the rest of the house. Cracks, leaking windows and pipe condensation are probably the most common reasons basements have water build-up problems. You will run into all kinds of issues if you allow too much water retention or allow it to stay for too long.
Basement Wall Options
You do not have to stick to one particular method when it comes to waterproofing the walls of your basement:
- French Drains
- Hollow Baseboard Molding
- Sump Pumps
- Waterproofing
- Damp Proofing
French Drains - An exterior system running the perimeter or partial perimeter of your house for heavy rain run off drainage, or an interior system if water is coming into your basement through the floors or cove between the floor and the wall. A trench is dug round the inside perimeter of the wet basement floor. A perforated plastic drain tile pipe is installed and surrounded by gravel. When trying to recement the floor over a French drain system, some repair and waterproofing contractors leave a gap that can be one to two inches in the floor to allow the web wall seppage to dair below the floor. Sump pumps are used in French drainage systems.
what might be the possible use of the Hollow Baseboard Molding.is it good enough to adhered or joint for epoxy use? The hollow molding collects wet wall seepage and water rising at the cove area. More often than not, linked to a sump pump.
A sump pump is placed in a tub that sits under the floor of your lower lever. The sump pumps through perforations in the sump well located close to it, can collect underground water. A good way of draining excess water from a basement floor or from any underground drainage pipes that you might have is to utilise a sump pump.
There are many types and varieties of basement wall sealers on the market to choose from depending on whether you want to brush or roll the sealant product onto your wall, or you may choose to install a panel wall system to seal your walls.
The truth is even with a good drainage system, it can’t assure a dry basement wall. Being the cheapest and easiest methods to stop moisture from getting into your basement through the walls, lets focus on damp proofing and waterproofing.
Damp proofing means what?
You may be asking yourself what is involved in damp proofing your basement and the best example I can give of damp proofing would be to think of a castle with a moat and think about how to keep the water away from this castle; first you build the permiable pallette layer where you want the castle floor, then you would place a solid layer over that, then you would leave a vent space and lay your foundation; as for your walls, you would build your walls, then do your solid layer and then your permiable layer, and now you have damp proofed your castle.
The majority of waterproofing products are comprised of a tar based substance in a solvent base. Although these are a cheap fix, they are not very effective because they are designed only to slow down the moisture build up not prevent it. The biggest problem is that, because this material becomes brittle, hairline cracks will appear as the foundation settles. Since the tar based coating does not stretch to cover these cracks, water will seep into the basement.
Find out the meaning of waterproofing.
Waterproofing products are designed to ‘prevent’ water penetration even under wet conditions such as hydrostatic pressure in the soil after heavy rain or spring thaws. Advanced Waterproofing Technologies provides supieor waterproofing protection as the products contain rubber and it allows flexibility when it dries. This flexibility allows the waterproofing membrane to stretch as the foundation settles and bridge small hairline settlement cracks that can occur in the concrete or block.
How to Apply
Obviously it would be most sensible to use waterproofing as it offers better long term results and you might well find that it comes with a guarantee that lasts for up to thirty years.
In the earlier days builders often did not consider waterproofing the basement walls as important. So now is your chance to rectify that with simple-to-use products. Even if you are not a professional you will find that our products are easily applied and not harmful. Available even in 5 gallon pails or 55 gallon drums, they are ready for use and do not require heating or other application equipment – just the use of a brush or roller. You can also utilize a commercially available airless sprayer that can be rented on a daily basis. Two people using rollers to waterproof a basement of about 1,000 square feet can accomplish the task easily in about two to three hours. So get to it and start enjoying all that space without the damp.