Waterproof your basement by yourself
A large percentage of homeowners who have basements also experience water leaks, so it’s no surprise that there is a huge demand for do it yourself basement waterproofing information and products.
The first thing to examine is the reason why basements are affected so much by water seepage and flooding. Serious basement problems due to excess moisture many times cause numerous problems to the basement structurally, as well as limit space, and ruin and or destroy furniture and furnishings.
Basements are basically built into a large hole that’s been dug out of the ground. Once the walls and floor of the basement are built, the remainder of the hole is filled in with effectively, loose soil, even if it’s compacted afterwards. Water naturally finds its way through the path of least resistance, and in your case, that will be the looser soil around your basement. Though it might take a few years, it is eminent that there will be a build-up of water around and under your basement.
This causes water to weigh down, and to exert pressure upon the floor, and upon the basement walls. How you will do it to yourself about basement waterproofing and does it really a protect coating? No system is foolproof, because even those that remove water from the building, can’t always prevent silt and heavy rainfalls from blocking pipes and causing system overload.
It’s at this point that many people turn to do it yourself basement waterproofing rather than have the basement completely excavated and re-done, usually at great expense. The often-used solution is to tackle the inside rather than the outside, by utilising products such as sealants on the inner walls and floor.
A typical project might involve:
- prepare the walls by removing all loose or crumbly material.
- before starting, take off prior restoration or foreign substance.
- make sure the basement is as dry as possible, hire heaters or large fans if necessary.
- use a primer coat on the floors and walls if the product requires this to be done.
- repair all easily seen gaps, flaws, seams, or joints.
- the requirement at the floor/wall junction is 1″ bead of sealant.
- using 2 or 3 coats to top-coat all surfaces
There’s nothing more to it. Provided that you are careful about choosing a superior product for this job, on completion your basement will be completely sealed and the waterproofing can be expected to last for several years. The best sealants, such as PermaFlex are assumed to be comprehensive, one-time, solutions for the waterproofing indoor basements. It’s quoted as being “the only indoor waterproofing system that completely seals any basement permanently, no matter how wet or deteriorated” and can be brushed, rolled or even sprayed on.
A complete solution would cost the average homeowner hundreds of Dollars for a good-sized basement rather than thousands, is perfect for do it yourself basement waterproofing and is a great budget-conscious solution for a common and potentially expensive problem.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 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.