Basement Waterproofing – Items & Purposes
Basement waterproofing materials can vary significantly in their forms and their uses. Some will be available to the public and some may only be available to the trade. Let’s assess the situation and see how we can apply it to your home.
Basically, you need to keep in mind whre you reside and the amount of water that is present. So take that into consideration as this will also influence the type of materials you can use.
The first type of basement waterproofing materials that most people seem to be looking for are simple sealants. In other words, they have a basement that has already had some form of waterproofing applied to it and are looking to patch small damp areas up. It is easy to find a sealant that can be used to treat the concrete once it has been poured, or indeed the mortar that is found in block walls. One type of sealant which is recommended for this is RadonSeal.
If the whole basement including the walls and floor are not treated completely with sealant the water is likely to come back in. The product has a 20-year limited guarantee. The only issue to be aware of here is that the sealant, (not only this one specifically, but with all sealants), will only prevent water seepage on the inside skin of the basement. In other words, there could be lots of water pressing against and through whatever materials your cellar walls are made of.
If you have cracks in the wall, you may need to consider other options. Plaster wall can be can be repaired by replacing the plaster coating. All you need to do is chip away any loose material from around the crack and then fill the area back up with plaster.
Stitching materials can be used as an alternative option. Metal staples are used to seal the cracks preventing or restricting movements. The cracks are then filled with any cement that doesn’t shrink.
More serious cracks in the walls or the floor of the basement can be filled with Gunite, a form of concrete that is sprayed on. You’ll need special spraying equipment to do this which you can hire. The resulting spray will fill cracks and leave a smooth finish, but you need to get the mixture ratio right. Since it sticks to many different surfaces it makes for a great option.
Ultimately, it must be remembered that basement waterproofing materials are not the final, only or the best solutions. In addition, you should be making sure there is as little water as possible getting into the ground water.
So also consider:
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 4:42 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.