When you are finishing a basement, waterproofing basement walls is a useful thing to do. 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. 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
There are numerous ways of waterproofing basement walls and these include:
- French Drains
- Hollow Baseboard Molding
- Sump Pumps
- Waterproofing
- Damp Proofing
French Drains
You do not have to stick to one particular method when it comes to waterproofing the walls of your basement. Among the available methods are French Drains, which involve the insertion of drainage systems underneath the basment floor to collect water leakage.
Whilst the basement floor is still wet, dig a trench around its inside perimeter. 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 drain that connects to a sump pump is usually the French type.
Hollow Baseboard Molding and Cove Systems
System for installing a hollow baseboard channel use a waterprof-of epoxy for the bonding to the floor and joint. This empty molding will gather wet wall seepage as well as fluid which rises at the cove region. 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 have many uses such as floor drainage and to drain underground drain 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?
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.
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:
Clearly waterproofing is a better option and since there is not a huge price difference between that and damp proofing, it seems a more sensible long term choice, especially when it often has a 25 to 30-year guarantee.
Builders, many times in the past, paid little attention to waterproofing 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. 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. Commercial airless sprayers can be rented by the day to waterproof basement walls. 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.