Living With ADD

The Lowdown on Waterproofing Basement Walls

You should always make sure to waterproof your basement walls when you are finishing it. Most basements have high moisture levels, and much of the moisture enters via the basement walls. The most frequent causes of water build-up in basements are due to cracks, leaking windows and pipe condensation. Too much or prolonged water retention in the basement can cause a variety of problems.

Basement Wall Options

You have many choices when it comes to waterproofing basement walls:

- 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. An excavation was made inside the drenched basement floor. A perforated plastic drain tile pipe is installed and surrounded by gravel. The floor over the French drain system is sometimes re-cemented by repair and wet basement waterproofing contractors. A gap is left of between one and two inches in the floor, along the walls, which lets the web wall seepage drain below floor-level into the drain system. A French drain usually connects to a sump pump.

Hollow Baseboard Molding and Cove Systems – A hollow baseboard channel is adhered to the joint where the floor meets the wall using a waterproof epoxy. This empty molding will gather wet wall seepage as well as fluid which rises at the cove region. In most cases linked to the sump pump.

Sump Pumps – Installed in a plastic or fiberglass tank below the wet basement floor. Sump pumps can collect underground water through perforations in the sump well in the immediate vicinity of the sump pump. 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.

What are the varieties that should be applied in all basement waterproofing?

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.  Application is inexpensive but efficiency is limited since they are manufactured to retard and not to prevent moisture penetration.  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.

The water proofing products are such that they stop water penetrate into wet places as well. Because hydrstatic pressure in the soil after heavy rain or spring starts thawing.  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. At this point you have the opportunity to put this situation right with convenient products that have easy to follow instructions The products available in the market are easy to apply and mostly they are do it yourself types.  They come ready to use in for example, 5 gallon pails or 55 gallon drums and do not require heating or special application equipment – anyone who can use a brush or roller can apply them.  You can even use a commercial airless sprayer which can be rented by the day.  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 start it and enjoy the convenience of damp-less space.