Waterproofing techniques for basement floors.
Many basement flooding and seeping problems could have been avoided by waterproofing the basement when constructed. Many people think basements are just concrete storage spaces for things you don’t use very often. The possibility of family rooms having extra space are realized.
After many years drains can become plugged with mud and causes water problems to occur.
The soil will become too wet and saturated if water from the roof isn’t directed far away enough from the foundation. In the process of the house settling, the walls will often crack, protective coatings which are on the outside biodegrades and drainage systems will be filled in with silt. A leakage in the basement might result from all these problems. Natural pressure from the soil against the foundation will cause flowing ground water to enter through any cracks or crevices in your foundation. The higher the level of water, the greater the pressure. In turn this water, under increased pressure, seeks entry through cracks and crevices in the walls and floors, and concrete is no match for water pressure. The end results are a water filled crawlspace or basement.
A pressure relief system can eliminate water that leaks into your basement. Whenever there happens to be a power outage due to a rainstorm, it is very likely that the primary pumps will not work, and that may cause somewhat of an inconvenience. As pressure increases the floor or wall will be penetrated by moisture. (usually called bleeding). Seepage is often found where the wall meets the floor around the corners and joints.
If water come from an isolated area and is installed a pump below the floor level will lower the water and the underground pressure Water vapor will go right through concrete since it is porous. This moisture makes it feel even colder, causes carpet or other floor covering to rot, allows mold to grow, and causes the basement to smell musty.
One fix for this problem is to use some of the quality sealants now available to the average home owner. It is often possible to paint them with either the roller or spray method.
Here are some examples of what a regular basement floor waterproofing project might entail:
- first the floor of the area being worked on must be prepared to make it smooth and remove any excess material
- Care has to be taken to see that the floor of the basement is absolutely dry,and for this one may need to hire large fans or heaters.
- Assuring that the wall/floor junctions are sealed off.
- filling any particularly noticeable cracks or joints.
- priming the floor if the product requires use of a primer.
Spread two or three coats which is just right top-coating of the final product.
With a good product you will have a waterproofed basement floor that should last for a number of years. Permaflex is one type of sealant that will give a complete and permanent waterproofing for a basement floor. Quoted as being the only indoor waterproofing system that completely seals any basement floor permanently, no matter how wet or deteriorated, seems a good easy system that costs a few hundred dollars as opposed to thousands for considerable manual work, pumps and pipes.
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 3:49 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.