Damp Proofing

been told it is fine, if messy, to damp proof the basement ourselves. Would you encourage professional help? Any tips on this subject? Cheers

What's the cause for the water intrusion? A professional should be able to determine that. It's not always what it seems. At the very least I would get some professional advice and estimates and learn as much as you can about the process. Don't miss Luftweg's "Basement studio-room project in Boston area" thread and Andy Eade's Rotten Basement Conversion Thread. And buy Rod's book! --Keith :mrgreen:

Junkie wrote:

been told it is fine, if messy, to damp proof the basement ourselves. Would you encourage professional help? Any tips on this subject? Cheers

I'm in no way a pro at this stuff, but I have researched it, since I have been working on my own situation.... Pro help is always desirable, although there are also unscrupulous people out there who want to sell you on 'quick fixes', or on some super expensive thing that you may not really need.... As always: learn, learn, learn... books and forums that aren't affiliated with any company that does basement work are probably most reliable for true information that you can get, online that is.... but even with knowledgeable sources, there exists a degree of difference in opinion (this is always the most frustrating thing), so getting several ideas and seeing what the general consensus is, seems a good bet. Do you mean REAL damp proofing, like on the OUTSIDE of the foundation? Thats most likely a major job, depending on your situation and capabilities and resources... It means you have to expose the outside of the foundation down to the footing.... i.e., lots and lots of digging and moving things. Honestly, if you were going that route, you should do more than damp proof; including running a full footing drain tile system to a storm sewer, sump, or down a hill (if gravity is on your side)... in fact, there are other things that can be done to the outside surface of the concrete that are probably a lot better than damp proofing too. But if you have water problems in an existing basement, the very first thing to do is to find out where it is coming from... A large amount of problems can be attributed to drainage outside of the house on the surface; this can be downspouts, gutters (called eavesthroughs there?), slope/grade of land, etc... Sometimes giving these things a well-thought-out fixing is all that is needed... If you have a high or variable water table, like I do, you STILL have to take care of the above outside land issues, but may also need more serious measures, like sump systems, french drains, drywells, and the perimeter, outside and/or inside drain tile systems. In a nutshell: Concrete is porous; if a lot of water is pushing on the outside of it, it will come in, usually even if there IS a water proof or damp proof coating on the outside... these waterproofing methods might help, but if the pressure is high enough, water will find a way in. Preventing water from getting to the foundation is the best way to prevent water from getting into basement; the best way to do that is to make sure outside drainage is effective. If you can't prevent water from getting to the foundation from outside drainage measures, then you need to 'relieve' the pressure on the foundation, which is usually done by inside drainage tile systems and/or pumping it out from below the level of the floor -- i.e., a sump and pump... In my case, in light of the possibility of major rain events drastically affecting the water table (this weakness was mainly brought out this year -- including one with a 4 hour power outage!), I won't feel completely safe until I have back up systems for my 2 sumps.... that means 2 pumps per sump, with alternative and automatic power options for them, to account for power outages, pump burnouts, clogged/frozen discharge pipes, etc... Right now, during the past week or two, the water table here has fallen to the point where neither of my current 2 pumps have been operating at all.... So it can be easy to forget... BUT, during May and June, we had so much rain that the pumps were an absolute necessity.... I myself also still have to work on several significant outside drainage/grading issues, but I've fixed a few of them and it has made a difference.... despite the water table, a good deal of my problems are related to surface water... There are lots of variables here, like whether your foundation is poured, block, or stone, whether it's deep, what kind of soil, what elevation, the proximity to streams, rivers, and water bodies, etc... You need to post more specifically; you mightl get more specific replies... K

Thx for advice guys. Basically my situation is this: finished digging up old rock and earth flooring so i have more height and laid a good 6" of concrete for a solid floor. Rising damp is not a problem, its the walls we are looking at. We have been told damp proofing isn't essential as there hasn't been much problems before, but it is a very old building and would rather have the damp proofing and not need it than not have it and then need it! Will be reading up on the matter. Cheers

What are your walls made from? If the building is that old, I would suspect masonary blocks, or random or cut or field stone. Field stone is supposedly very difficult to 'seal up' from any leaks... If you have poured concrete or block walls, the problem might be just at the bottom of the wall, near the joint of the wall and the floor (but not that it can't leak along the height of the wall as well, or along block joints especially). I have questions. When you excavated down to increase height, did you encounter the footings for the walls? Did you have to 'step' the floor in that area... or did you simply pour to the level of the footings? Any other 'problems encountered during the 'digging-down' process (e.g., rocks, utilities, support post footings, etc.)? thanx, K

Junkie wrote:

Thx for advice guys. Basically my situation is this: finished digging up old rock and earth flooring so i have more height and laid a good 6" of concrete for a solid floor. Rising damp is not a problem, its the walls we are looking at. We have been told damp proofing isn't essential as there hasn't been much problems before, but it is a very old building and would rather have the damp proofing and not need it than not have it and then need it! Will be reading up on the matter. Cheers