moist basement
#1
08-04-04, 07:50 AM
moist basement
Hey gang,
I live in New Orleans and have a "raised basement" home. The foundation is a thin footer around the perimeter. On top of the footer, two courses of brick six bricks high were laid and the exterior walls were set on top of the bricks. The house is 80-100 years old. The bricks are most likely not as old as the house. I have been trying to fix my moisture/musty smell problem. I have removed the bricks on the back of the house and replaced them with poured concrete while replacing 90% of the downstairs rear wall because of termite damage. Now the brick runs the length of both sides of the house. The mortar between the bricks is thin or nonexistent in places. I have sealed the bricks from the outside down to the footer. on the inside, a thin slab (or two thin slabs totalling about 3 to 4 inches thick) was poured covering the two bottom bricks. On the outside of the bricks, I have removed the dirt to try to keep moisture away from the house and have created a four inch deep moat that holds water right up against the brick.
There is the background. On one side, I intend to fill the moat with concrete to keep the water off the bricks. The other side is often used as an entrance and I would like to do something more creative and attractive than just pouring concrete. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The moat runs the length of the house on each side and is about 4" deep and about 18" wide.
I need to seal the brick from the inside as well. I think that I could tuck and point the bricks and then seal them, but the gaps in between are small. Any suggestions for a remedy to this? What could I seal it with after filling the gaps?
Finally, I want to pull up the carpet and install flooring. Since the slab is so thin and had cracks on one corner where the bathroom is(I repoured cement there, hopefully that will hold together), I thought that I should install a floating floor and glueless would be the easiest. So, I was looking at laminate and possibly hardwood, but I thought for a basement, laminate might be better.
Well, if you're reading this, you stuck with me til the end and I appreciate your patience. Some of my questions are phrased as aimless ramblings, so any and all thoughts will be welcome. Thanks in advance for participating in this forum and making it available. Mule
I live in New Orleans and have a "raised basement" home. The foundation is a thin footer around the perimeter. On top of the footer, two courses of brick six bricks high were laid and the exterior walls were set on top of the bricks. The house is 80-100 years old. The bricks are most likely not as old as the house. I have been trying to fix my moisture/musty smell problem. I have removed the bricks on the back of the house and replaced them with poured concrete while replacing 90% of the downstairs rear wall because of termite damage. Now the brick runs the length of both sides of the house. The mortar between the bricks is thin or nonexistent in places. I have sealed the bricks from the outside down to the footer. on the inside, a thin slab (or two thin slabs totalling about 3 to 4 inches thick) was poured covering the two bottom bricks. On the outside of the bricks, I have removed the dirt to try to keep moisture away from the house and have created a four inch deep moat that holds water right up against the brick.
There is the background. On one side, I intend to fill the moat with concrete to keep the water off the bricks. The other side is often used as an entrance and I would like to do something more creative and attractive than just pouring concrete. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The moat runs the length of the house on each side and is about 4" deep and about 18" wide.
I need to seal the brick from the inside as well. I think that I could tuck and point the bricks and then seal them, but the gaps in between are small. Any suggestions for a remedy to this? What could I seal it with after filling the gaps?
Finally, I want to pull up the carpet and install flooring. Since the slab is so thin and had cracks on one corner where the bathroom is(I repoured cement there, hopefully that will hold together), I thought that I should install a floating floor and glueless would be the easiest. So, I was looking at laminate and possibly hardwood, but I thought for a basement, laminate might be better.
Well, if you're reading this, you stuck with me til the end and I appreciate your patience. Some of my questions are phrased as aimless ramblings, so any and all thoughts will be welcome. Thanks in advance for participating in this forum and making it available. Mule
#2
08-07-04, 03:36 AM
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Mule,
Unsure exactly what you have - it did get me confused.
When you say raised basement home, I get 2 versions of that statement. Are we talking bricks of blocks?
What is the height of this basement?
Unsure exactly what you have - it did get me confused.
When you say raised basement home, I get 2 versions of that statement. Are we talking bricks of blocks?
What is the height of this basement?
#3
08-10-04, 07:45 AM
raised basement=ground level
Hey Doug,
Sorry about the confusion...the slab is at ground level.
There is a footer poured below the surface and the bricks sit
on this footer. The walls are 2X4 construction and sit on top
of the bricks. Thanks for your interest. Raised basement is prolly not a term used everywhere. It's kind of unique construction. I believe that the house was raised and the lower level was open and not originally designed to be living space. Subsequently, it was enclosed, a slab was poured and it became living space. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. mule
Sorry about the confusion...the slab is at ground level.
There is a footer poured below the surface and the bricks sit
on this footer. The walls are 2X4 construction and sit on top
of the bricks. Thanks for your interest. Raised basement is prolly not a term used everywhere. It's kind of unique construction. I believe that the house was raised and the lower level was open and not originally designed to be living space. Subsequently, it was enclosed, a slab was poured and it became living space. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. mule
