Concrete floor sweating, aquron 2000 VS Drylock?
#1
12-09-09, 06:04 PM
Concrete floor sweating, aquron 2000 VS Drylock?
I need some advice, please bear with me as I give you all the details.
We had a carport open on two sides (The old style with a single metal poll at the front right, you drove under and you were looking at the kitchen wall to the left and a small shed in front of you).
The floor used to get wet during rain and temp changes.
I closed in the carport and made it a formal dining room. I thought the addition of the a/c would control the sweating. Once I closed the room in, windows and doors in, the sweating seemed to stop.
I put down a 6mil plastic vapor barrier and then a plastic underlayment, the blue roll of stuff you find at home depot/lowes and then a laminate wood floor from lowes.
After a year we noticed a couple of buckling boards. I THOUGHT it was due to a poor sealant job under the back door since that was were it showed up at first, right near the back door.
We have had A LOT of rain this year, 15" higher than last. We are on a clay soil that doesn't drain well and the area outside the door has pavers where water puddles in a hard/long rain.
Now, I pulled up the floor today (It's been about a year and a half since it went down) and the entire floor is wet under and over the vapor barrier. I thought I was dealing with some water intrusion from the back door and that I would pull up a corner of the floor, repair the back door sealant and put the down new floor to replace the bowed sections. But as I pulled back the vapor barrier/underlayment I kept finding wet floor. So, I pulled the entire floor up and it was damp the entire way, that makes me think it's a sweating issue.
I have a fan blowing on the floor and it's dry in 30 minutes, don't know if that matters or not but I'm trying to give all the details I can here.
So, I'm thinking of:
1. Painting the floor with about 3 coats of drylock from homedepot, putting down two sheets of plastic and putting the floor back in place.
2. Sealing the floor with aquron 2000. The tech support guy says this WILL fix my issue.
3. ????
I need some advice here guys, I know this post is long and I'm sorry but I need some informed points of view. I know you may yell at me for putting the floor down when it probably would have failed a vapor test, shame on me, I didn't know any better, but now the room is done (and we love having the dining room, it's made our house sooo much better) and I have to do something or put down another type of floor? I can't not put something back in place.
Please help, I'm stressed all to hell over this.
Tim
We had a carport open on two sides (The old style with a single metal poll at the front right, you drove under and you were looking at the kitchen wall to the left and a small shed in front of you).
The floor used to get wet during rain and temp changes.
I closed in the carport and made it a formal dining room. I thought the addition of the a/c would control the sweating. Once I closed the room in, windows and doors in, the sweating seemed to stop.
I put down a 6mil plastic vapor barrier and then a plastic underlayment, the blue roll of stuff you find at home depot/lowes and then a laminate wood floor from lowes.
After a year we noticed a couple of buckling boards. I THOUGHT it was due to a poor sealant job under the back door since that was were it showed up at first, right near the back door.
We have had A LOT of rain this year, 15" higher than last. We are on a clay soil that doesn't drain well and the area outside the door has pavers where water puddles in a hard/long rain.
Now, I pulled up the floor today (It's been about a year and a half since it went down) and the entire floor is wet under and over the vapor barrier. I thought I was dealing with some water intrusion from the back door and that I would pull up a corner of the floor, repair the back door sealant and put the down new floor to replace the bowed sections. But as I pulled back the vapor barrier/underlayment I kept finding wet floor. So, I pulled the entire floor up and it was damp the entire way, that makes me think it's a sweating issue.
I have a fan blowing on the floor and it's dry in 30 minutes, don't know if that matters or not but I'm trying to give all the details I can here.
So, I'm thinking of:
1. Painting the floor with about 3 coats of drylock from homedepot, putting down two sheets of plastic and putting the floor back in place.
2. Sealing the floor with aquron 2000. The tech support guy says this WILL fix my issue.
3. ????
I need some advice here guys, I know this post is long and I'm sorry but I need some informed points of view. I know you may yell at me for putting the floor down when it probably would have failed a vapor test, shame on me, I didn't know any better, but now the room is done (and we love having the dining room, it's made our house sooo much better) and I have to do something or put down another type of floor? I can't not put something back in place.
Please help, I'm stressed all to hell over this.
Tim
#2
12-10-09, 10:20 AM
Aquron will probablly work
It sounds good. You have moisture coming up through the slab and I think your diagnosis is correct. The product is a probably a sodium silicate that reacts with the free lime content of the concrete and fills the pores. This stops the vapor from coming through.
Last edited by Shadeladie; 12-10-09 at 06:29 PM. Reason: Link removed. Advertising not allowed.
#3
12-10-09, 06:48 PM
A permanent solution to your problem would be to install a French drain around the perimeter of the slab to channel water away from it, instead of it seeping under the slab.
#4
12-11-09, 08:03 AM
Perhaps there was no vapor barrier under the slab to begin with, since it was an exterior slab. Before buying the Home depot sealant, research other concrete sealants from specialty concrete construction material suppliers. This may cost you more than a Home Depot product, but you will have more options for better and longer lasting sealant.
