Fixing water problem in basement
RenovateMan
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I have been contracted to remodel a basement. However, the walls are damp. It is not a bad water problem, but I can’t start remodel work until it’s finished. I have a sub who deals with problems such as this and he wants to put in an interior drainage system with pumps. This will be very expensive.
I am getting varying opinions on whether it is OK to fix the problem with interior dampproofing or whether the problem must be fixed outside the wall. I would like more feedback and would be very interested if someone knows of sources of information on this subject.
Thanks for the help.
Replies
Water intrusion is one of the biggest headaches in below grade renovations. How bad is the water, is it actual water or surface dampness? Is it only on the walls or are the floors also damp? Does it get worse after heavy downpours? If it is just dampness then a good fix would be a product such as UGL paint. Two coatings will stop dampness but not actual running water. They do have a new product that they say will stop up to a certain psi force of standing water. If you have real water problems curtain drains or some sort of drain would be appropriate. The problem is first ascertaining where the water is coming from, how much and what are the problems related to an outdoor or indoor fix.
The very first thing is to look for exterior surface problems. Cloged or no gutters, no drain to take water way from the foundation, land graded towards the house.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
FYI,
On two of my remodels including the one I currently live in, the foundations on the daylight basements were cracked and while I used a "waterproofing" roll on product I had no faith. It was really brought home when a sub left the outside hose bib on overnight and there was a mess of water in the basement the next day. Both houses had exterior drains that were old (they generally fail eventually, unless installed with cleanouts) I haven't found any old ones with cleanouts and few on new ones either.
I installed an interior drain system. They jackhammer a trough in the footing, install a plastic gutter like pipe on drain rock that has open holes in the back that collect the water and daylights it down slope (or to a pump). They often visqueen the wall to separate it from studs, if an interior framed wall is going up. They can also install it under an existing framed wall.
The drains seem to be very effective and have cleanouts you can you use to hose away any collected material. The install company even does that as an after market service. The nice thing about the interior drain is that by the time the water gets through the wall, basically no sediment is included, thus no clogging of drains. The jackhammering makes a mess on finished space with dust but the company pays their employees by the piece so they really move through the material, (good and bad). I think the long term design is good and its a lot cheaper than replacing and installing an exterior drain next to the house.
Ultimately what made the decision easy for the install was the thought, what if the next home owner left the hose bib on? This particular house was at the top of the hill, so there was no other water coming from farther away that could be intercepted.