Sealing a basement floor/walls


  #1  
Old 10-29-07, 05:22 PM
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Sealing a basement floor/walls

My girlfriend and I have just recently had a house built and we are getting ready to move in!

Well, I am wanting to finish the basement, but I have some questions. I have been doing a lot of googling and finding some good information; however I am starting to think maybe I am to paranoid?

Since the sump pump had been installed about 6 months ago and then the basement floor poured about 2 months ago, the pump seems to pump often. It has been a wet season, but it seems to pump quite a bit more than it should. The grade appears to be good from the house and the gutters are pointing well away from the house and their was tile laid all around the house when the foundation was poured. The neighbor says that their is a natural spring under the land here, not sure if this is true or not...

My concern is, now that the house is complete, the basement appears to be completely dry, but before I finish the basement I want to be sure that I don't spend the money to finish it if it is only going to be a complete disaster with moister coming through.

What is the most common way to seal a basement and should I be so concerned with moister problems?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jake
 
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Old 11-03-07, 09:41 AM
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If it is going off all the time and you are finishing the basement, I would purchase an alarm and a battery backup - both not that expensive!!
 
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Old 11-03-07, 11:35 AM
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battery backup's a good idea,,,

& you're not paranoid, either,,, NOW's the best time to worry, NOT when you've finish'd the room,,, but FIRST, read your new home warranty as leaking basements're usually only cover'd for the 1st year,,, naturally, many don't leak til afterwards,,, no moss on the guys who write warranties, huh ?

was the drain tile cover'd w/dirt or was a properly-design'd toe drain system installed w/silt fabric & crush'd stone either running to daylight pr pump powered ?,,, doubtful.

backfill around the basement's got 70% (historically) compaction compared to undisturb'd soils so its only natural that water, taking the path of least resistance, will find its way down alongside your walls to the footer & eventually, if not drained, into your very, fine, new basement ,,, btw, conc or cmu walls ?,,, conc's MUCH better but would've cost you more.

basement's properly seal'd by doing it BEFORE backfill,,, after that, its ' water management ',,, in my exp, dri-lock's a waste of time & $ but there's a lot of it sold,,, i suspect sellers're the larger group of purchasers ;-)

best way to be sure is call someone who specializes in waterproofing ( a commonly accepted misnomer by the public ),,, this was my work in nj, ny, & ct for 7 yrs - both commercial & residential.

but 1st, READ your homeowner warranty,,, leaking basements're usually only cover'd in the FIRST year, jake.

might try here for help, too - http://www.nawsrc.org/index.php - yes, many have 'snake oil' 'inspectors but its better'n a sharp stick in the eye,,, at least you'll learn something,,, a pe might help but this is a small job for them,,, perhaps you know 1 or can reach out thru friends ?

good luck, jake

ps - over 100lf, its best to have TWO sumps, pumps, & bbu's,,, but you won't find many willing to invest til its too late.
 
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Old 11-03-07, 11:59 AM
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Sealing a basement floor/walls

Jake7 -

Since your pump is running, your system is performing as intended. The frequency may not what you expected (what is your basis for this?), but it is removing the water around your foundation and provides insurance against a failure as a result of the outer coatings deteriorating.

It is not abnormal for a drainage system to collect a lot of water as the soil around a home settles and water is squeezed out. An abnormally wet season can increase the amount.

As the backfill around the house settles, make sure that you refill the surface and keep the drainage positive(away from the house). Your downspout extensions should be long enough to carry the water beyond the area excavated for construction, which can be quite wide depending on the soil and equipment used. You may want to look at the "pop-up" discharges that can allow you to use long underground extensions and not create a lawn obstruction or something ugly. I have 20' extensions to get the water away from my lawn and not create a soggy lawn area.

A previous poster was correct about a spare pumps as a back-up or a battery powered sump pump if you find that you continue to have a high water table as a result of a high local water table. Check with your neighbors to find out about the frequency of power outages. - I had a lake home in the woods and never an outage for 14 years because of the underground dustribution system and I lived with a water table 2' below my basement floor.

If and/or when you decide to finish the basement, even without leakage, I would open the wall/floot joint and pack with hydraulic cement (a proven generic material with many different private brand names.) and coat the walls with a proven material like Thoroseal (not a paint-type product).

Dick
 
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Old 11-04-07, 09:11 AM
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apolgies for this,,

forgot to mention in the previous post, i never viewed either dri-lok NOR thoroseal permanent solutions as they're ' negative side ' measures,,, we did use those products & they're fine IF they're used correctly but we NEVER applied below grade OR on a negative ( inside ) side even when arch/eng spec'd.

as for the protective outer coatings, if i recall correctly, code call'd for a ( 4mil-6mil) dampproofing,,, rarely did i ever see a bldr call in a ' specialty coating installer ',,, more'n usual it was the conc sub stirring a 5gal bucket of asphalt emulsion from h/d & then roll'd on w/paint rollers,,, no elastomeric qualities whatsoever NOR any protection from scuffs, scars, & gashes during backfill.

leader drains're/can be beneficial,,, ours (4" ads ) run downhill 50' to a holding pond from which we draw wtr for the lawn irrigation sys.

btw, we have install'd 4 pumps/sumps/bbu's in 100',,, all depends on local conditions.

apologies for not being more clear or complete.
 

Last edited by so-elitecrete; 11-04-07 at 09:17 AM. Reason: information expansion
 

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