Damp Basement ???

   / Damp Basement ??? #1  

MarkV

Super Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2000
Messages
5,670
Location
Cedartown, Ga and N. Ga mountains
Tractor
1998 Kubota B21, 2005 Kubota L39
We have a new house that was built in 1973 with a full basement and block foundation. In the last couple of months that we have owned the house the basement has been dry but it is obvious from the stains on the block that moisture has penetrated the foundation in the past. The visual signs show it to be a dampness issue rather than true water infiltration.

Has anyone used any of the interior waterproofing produces, such as Drylok, successfully? Any product recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh ya, we are in heavy clay soil and the grade from foundation is pretty good. The downspouts will get some extensions to help get water away from the foundation.

Thanks,
MarkV
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #2  
My parents home had a problem like that and in the early days of epoxy paints, they painted the block to keep the moisture out. It did what it was intended to do well, but caused another problem. Without any place for the water to go, it started to push on the foundation wall and bow it in. That is when we dug to the bottom of the foundation and put a perimeter drain all around the house. After that was done, no more moisture in the basement and you could see the drain flowing water almost constantly unless we were in a drought...... seems that there were some underground springs that were the problem, but we never did see them before....
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #3  
Mark,

I used DryLock on the basement walls of my previous house. I had some hairline cracks and then also some general dampness issues. The dryLock seemed to work pretty well overall, even through the summer of the great flood. I did eventually begin to see some seepage through one of the bigger cracks, and had I kept the house I probably would have ground that one out, filled with hydraulic cement and re-treated with DryLock. The DryLock surface was bright white, and I didn't even paint over it, though I think you can.

My walls were poured concrete, and as Junkman says, you may end up having to do it the correct, and often expensive way. Good luck.

Chuck
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #4  
That's the only way I've seen it be successful. Dig around the perimeter and coat the concrete with roofing tar, then install a perimeter drain. Looks like a good excuse to buy a BH attachment. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #5  
Before putting any coatings on the wall deal with the easy outside stuff first. Grade a minimum of 1/4" per foot for 10', further is better; extensions on all downspouts; gutters clean and not leaking; landscaping to a minimum against the house. Keep the moisture away from the house especially with clay soil.

I'd be very careful before putting any coatings on the inside of the wall. If what you put on doesn't work you will have to sand blast it off to install a better product. The type of block you have will come into play - concrete block verses cinder block. Not sure what they used down south in the '70's. In general anything you can buy in home depot for waterproof coating will not work. Commercial products like enduroseal soak into the concrete 1 to 4 inches and actually create a barrier within the concrete itself. Drylok and other products like it only create a film on the surface of the wall much like paint.

Severe moisture problems are best dealt with outside the house. That unfortunately means digging up around the foundation and installing a waterproof system and perimeter drain. But it doesn't sound like you have a severe problem.

If it was my house I'd do the easy stuff outside the house and then go thru a rainy season and see how it is.

Hope this helps
Jack
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #6  
It sounds like you have addressed the obvious such as regrading landscaping and routing downspouts away. If you still have a problem, this is what we use on the houses we build in the Pacific Northwest with daylight basements. Superseal It would involve extensive work, but just might be worth it in the long run.
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #7  
MarkV

When I had a full basement (it was unfinished) we had similar problems with dampness and leakage. We regraded the ground around the outside of the house, which may have been the first time I started wanting a tractor. Anyway, that helped a lot, and I enlarged the one bad crack and filled with concrete sealer.

The last thing we did was purchase a dehumidifier. When it was all said and done, the basement was quite comfortable and I put my home office down there. No leakage or dampness for several years.
 
   / Damp Basement ???
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Thanks for the replies so far. I do agree that excavating the perimeter is the best fix. In this situation our problem is dampness in an unfinished space rather than actual leaking. To excavate the perimeter would be a big job with the existing landscaping, walks and drives in the way. The grade from the foundation does drop away from the house and we will extend the downspouts. I think we will try an interior treatment before tackling the exterior perimeter.

Chuck, thanks for letting me know you had a fair experience with Drylok. I have seen it on the shelves for years but have never used it before.

MarkV
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #9  
If it is just damp a dehumidifier will remove alot of water from the air. Mine removes a couple of gallons per day during the summer and it makes a big difference.

Kevin
 
   / Damp Basement ??? #10  
Could decide not to fight it and put in an indoor pool /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
 
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