I am refinishing the basement in the house I recently bought and I have noticed a good deal of water eminating from the walls. I was planning on using dimpled flashing to put against the walls in order to deal with the hydrostatic water. Is there anything else anyone might recommend and if I do used the dimpled flashing is there anything you all might recommend that I can put up against the interior of it in order to fully finish my basement.
Thanks,
knightur
Replies
What's dimpled flashing?
Try a couple coats of Drylok and see if that helps. Make sure you prep the wall as they recommend. But if there is enough pressure, it will eventually work its way back in.
jt8
"All men should strive to learn before they die What they are running from, and to, and why." -- James Thurber
Or under.Troy Sprout
Square, Level & Plumb Renovations
Or under.
Mom used to live in a house built on a high water table. The basement developed a couple long hairline cracks... and eventually water was actually tricking up through the crack. Simply from the rising water pressure under the concrete. Like little water fountains.
Most of my basement waterproofing experience has been in keeping stuff from making its way past the basement walls. The aforementioned house was the first basement I'd seen where the walls were dry but the water was percolating through the floor.
jt8
"All men should strive to learn before they die What they are running from, and to, and why." -- James Thurber
A friend Drylocked his walls and successfully stopped the water from entering through the walls.
His basement floor is actually made of six or eight seperate slabs. When it rained before he installed a sump pump, you could jump on any given slab and the water would fountain through the seams.
Kinda humorous, really.Troy Sprout
Square, Level & Plumb Renovations
In virtually every thread here about basement waterproofing, the recommendation is to deal with the water OUTSIDE the house first.
Anything you do inside is probably temporary at best.
Hello, I have fully adopted the techniques from a research think tank here in MA. I trully believe " water-proofing " interior basement walls is impossible for any worthwhile period of time. Building Sciences Corporation has some amazing information on this specific topic.
www.buildingscience.com
Dimpled flashing, like platon http://www.systemplaton.com will work wonders on the exterior, and may solve the problem. If you are in fact digging, platon and adding a good tile drain w/lots of gravel to a sump or daylight will solve the problem.
If you have to work inside, I am guessing the flashing would work there as well, if you cut an interior ditch around your basement and filled with drain tile and gravel to a sump. That is what the dry basement companies do.
Don't forget to clean your downspouts and gutters and be certain your landscaping directs water away from your house.
I've used the mix-type drylok with good success in my shop; it held up until I drilled an anchoring hole in the slab - then water came through there!
I've used Seal-O-Flex products for "negative side" waterptoofing for a good customer on a basement that had leaked since the house was built in 1954. Basically, one builds a pool liner inside the basement with fabric and various glops. After 18 months and no leaks, I need to finish out the rooms for use. I'll put the dri-core waffle sections of subfloor down on the fabric, and engineered flooring over that.
Forrest
There are techniques for dealing with water leakage from the inside. It involves catching and managing the water from the inside. Much cheaper and much less disruption than digging 6-7 feet all around the exterior and installing drains which may not catch all the water anyway.
More than 4-5 times, I have seen springs come up in the center of basement floors: one was my first house- the renovation/rebuilding of a 200 year old 1+1/2 storey post & beam Cape Cod- and the other was a brand new home where the owner/builder had to install an interior sump pump after installing 2 runs of 4" exterior drains and 1+1/2 feet of drainage stone- more than double what codes required!! I found mine before the crushed stone and concrete floor slab was installed. The new house owner/builder was not so lucky- he had to cut/break a hole through the already poured slab.!!
A $10 CDN book from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (our national housing agency) called Investigating, Diagnosing & Treating Your Damp Basement has lots of info including some interior fixes.
http://www.CMHC.ca