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. Cracks, leaking windows and pipe condensation are probably the most common reasons basements have water build-up problems. Too much or prolonged water retention in the basement can cause a variety of problems.
Basement Wall Options
Among the available methods are:
- 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. 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. A drain that connects to a sump pump is usually the French type.
what might be the possible use of the Hollow Baseboard Molding.is it good enough to adhered or joint for epoxy use? Water rising at a cove area in a basement will also damage hollow molding since it will retain moisture from a wet wall. Usually connected to a sump pump.
Sump Pumps – Installed in a plastic or fiberglass tank below the wet basement floor. In order to collect underground water one case install a device known as a sump pump. This should solve your underground water problems! Sump pumps can also act as a good floor drain or be used to drain a variety of underground drainage pipes.
Wall Sealers – Varieties include spray applied basement wall sealers, brush or roller applied basement waterproofing sealers, or panel type basement waterproofing sealers for wet basement walls.
The fact is that even with a good drainage system there is no surety of the basement walls remaining dry. Being the cheapest and easiest methods to stop moisture from getting into your basement through the walls, lets focus on damp proofing and waterproofing.
What is Damp Proofing?
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. They are cheap to apply but their effectiveness is limited because they are only to designed to ‘retard’ moisture penetration, not prevent it. The main problem is that it becomes brittle once it cures and as the foundation settles and hairline cracks appear, the tar based coating will not stretch to bridge the cracks and this allows moisture to penetrate into the basement.
Does waterproofing may help a lot in protecting basement walls?
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. The rubber used in Advanced Water Proofing Technologies products provides superior waterproofing protection and allows the product to remain flexible even after drying. The concrete or block has a waterproof coating that stretches to make the foundation completely waterproof.
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 past, builders ignored the need to waterproof basement walls. At this point you have the opportunity to put this situation right with convenient products that have easy to follow instructions Most of the products are safe and easy to apply by the do-it-yourselfer. 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. In 2 or 3 hours, a couple people using rollers can waterproof an average-size basement (about 1,000 square feet) without difficulty. So get to it and start enjoying all that space without the damp.
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