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If you’re looking for information on Waterproofing Basement Walls, this has it all.
February 22, 2010
When you are finishing a basement, waterproofing basement walls is a useful thing to do. Basement walls are the entry point of most moisture creating a high level of moisture in them. 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
There are numerous ways of waterproofing basement walls and these include:
- 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. First you need to position a plastic drain pipe, ready perforated, and then make sure that it is surrounded by gravel or similar 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. 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? This empty molding will gather wet wall seepage as well as fluid which rises at the cove region. More often than not, linked to a 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. Sump pumps have many uses such as floor drainage and to drain underground drain pipes.
What are the varieties that should be applied in all basement waterproofing?
In reality a good drainage system cannot guarantee dry basement walls. We need to evaluate the most economical method to stop moisture from getting in the basement walls and this may be 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.
Proofing products that are moist are usually made of tar 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. Unfortunately as curing takes place it is possible for it to become brittle. This is a result of the settling of the foundations and can result in the spontaneous appearance of cracks in the walls. The walls will then unfortunately lose their waterproofing as the coating will not be able to cover the cracks.
Does waterproofing may help a lot in protecting basement walls?
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. How you will stretch the foundation to settle the flexibility of waterproofing
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 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 even use a commercial airless sprayer which can be rented by the day. An average size basement of approximately 1,000 square feet can easily be waterproofed by a couple of people using a roller in 2-3 hours. So get to it and start enjoying all that space without the damp.
