If you’re looking for information on Waterproofing Basement Walls, this has it all.

Waterproofing basement walls should be a standard thing to do when finishing a basement. Basement walls are the entry point of most moisture creating a high level of moisture in them. Cracks, leaking windows and pipe condensation are probably the most common reasons basements have water build-up problems. A great deal of problems can be created from too much water or long term water retention in the basement.

Basement Wall Options

There are numerous ways of waterproofing basement walls and these include:

- French Drains
- Hollow Baseboard Molding
- Sump Pumps
- Waterproofing
- Damp Proofing

French Drains – An exterior system running the perimeter or partial perimeter of your house for heavy rain run off drainage, or an interior system if water is coming into your basement through the floors or cove between the floor and the wall. Whilst the basement floor is still wet, dig a trench around its inside perimeter. A perforated plastic drain tile pipe is installed and surrounded by gravel. The floor over the French drain system is sometimes re-cemented by repair and wet basement waterproofing contractors. A gap is left of between one and two inches in the floor, along the walls, which lets the web wall seepage drain below floor-level into the drain system. Sump pumps are used in French drainage systems.

System for installing a hollow baseboard channel use a waterprof-of epoxy for the bonding to the floor and joint. The hollow molding collects wet wall seepage and water rising at the cove area. More often than not, linked to a sump pump.

Sump Pumps – Installed in a plastic or fiberglass tank below the wet basement floor. Sump pumps can collect underground water through perforations in the sump well in the immediate vicinity of the sump pump. Sump pumps have many uses such as floor drainage and to drain underground drain pipes.

What are the varieties that should be applied in all basement waterproofing?

The truth is even with a good drainage system, it can’t assure a dry basement wall. Being the cheapest and easiest methods to stop moisture from getting into your basement through the walls, lets focus on damp proofing and waterproofing.

What is Damp Proofing?

You may be asking yourself what is involved in damp proofing your basement and the best example I can give of damp proofing would be to think of a castle with a moat and think about how to keep the water away from this castle; first you build the permiable pallette layer where you want the castle floor, then you would place a solid layer over that, then you would leave a vent space and lay your foundation; as for your walls, you would build your walls, then do your solid layer and then your permiable layer, and now you have damp proofed your castle.

Damp proofing products are typically a tar based material in a solvent base.  Application is inexpensive but efficiency is limited since they are manufactured to retard and not to prevent moisture penetration.  The biggest problem is that, because this material becomes brittle, hairline cracks will appear as the foundation settles. Since the tar based coating does not stretch to cover these cracks, water will seep into the basement.

Does waterproofing may help a lot in protecting basement walls?

The water proofing products are such that they stop water penetrate into wet places as well. Because hydrstatic pressure in the soil after heavy rain or spring starts thawing.  Advanced Waterproofing Technologies provides supieor waterproofing protection as the products contain rubber and it allows flexibility when it dries.  This flexibility allows the waterproofing membrane to stretch as the foundation settles and bridge small hairline settlement cracks that can occur in the concrete or block.

How to Apply

Clearly waterproofing is a better option and since there is not a huge price difference between that and damp proofing, it seems a more sensible long term  choice, especially when it often has a 25 to 30-year guarantee.

In the earlier days builders often did not consider waterproofing the basement walls as important. So now you can fix that with a product anyone can use. Most of the products are safe and easy to apply by the do-it-yourselfer.  They come ready to use in for example, 5 gallon pails or 55 gallon drums and do not require heating or special application equipment – anyone who can use a brush or roller can apply them.  You can also utilize a commercially available airless sprayer that can be rented on a daily basis.  In 2 or 3 hours, a couple people using rollers can waterproof an average-size basement (about 1,000 square feet) without difficulty. So start it and enjoy the convenience of damp-less space.