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How to seal basement inside walls
How to seal basement inside walls, are you having problems with water getting into your basement? Basically there are 4 post covering this topic How to seal basement inside walls. However, first, we need to briefly discuss areas you need to check on the outside of the basement. BECAUSE OUTSIDE PROBLEMS REQUIRE REPAIRS FIRST. See step1 at bottom of post. Unfortunately, most unfinished basements experience some sort of water leak, water seepage, dampness, and potentially mold and mildew problems.
How to seal basement inside walls
You can solve many problems from the outside. Some things are an easy fix like gutters or sprinklers discharging water next to the walls. Bigger problems could involve grading the land. For help on the outside see my other post Water Getting In Basement. All related links will be at the bottom of this post. Once you have read that post, follow the advice to find and to correct what you can before you start any inside work.
How to seal basement inside walls
Sealing inside of your leaking basement may not be your first choice; however, under certain circumstances it may be a good choice. While sealing the inside of your basement is a lot of work. The alternative is to hire someone to do the job, however it is awfully expensive
OUTSIDE SOLUTIONS COULD BE A MINOR FIX
There are times when it is not possible to completely solve the problem from the outside alone, or you may just want to add extra waterproofing on the inside for peace of mind. A good example of why you would want to seal the inside basement walls would be because of difficulty with access near the outside basement walls. Such difficulty will not allow proper grading of the land to completely correct standing water issues, which could seep through the walls.
DEFINING THE WATER SEEPAGE ISSUES
Awhile back, during a three-day heavy storm, this basement had seepage through the walls. Luckily, power was still on and the sump pump kicked on and removed the water.
The owners had the land adjusted to help keep water from penetrating the earth next to the basement walls. This helped correct the standing water issue. Then the homeowners had the gutters adjusted to push water away from the walls, this helped a lot and resolved most of their issues. However, at one area, because of an open deck style flooring on the porch, water still seeped in during heavy rain.
It was impossible to grade the land without tearing out the porch, homeowners had limited corrections done to this specific area at the time.
A less expensive plan than removal of the porch, is to install a sealed floor over the existing wood slated porch floor. This will stop water getting through the boards and direct the water approximately six feet from the walls.
As an extra peace of mind, the owners wanted to seal the inside walls. It was decided two coats of sealer would be best. This will not only seal the wall but will allow painting the walls after thirty days to brighten up the space.
Connecting over flow pipe from one sump pump to the other
In addition, we made other safety modifications to mitigate any issues if there is a major storm and seepage occurs. As the basement had two independent sump pumps, we built a water overflow drain which now directs water from one sump pump pit to the other. This added another level of protection.
Some of the following photos are of water seeping through the walls during a hurricane’s torrential rains. Pitching the land away from the walls cut the standing water and most water flow problems. .
Installing Qty. 2) ½” Plastic pipes = 1” Pipe flow rate. Because 1” pipe would require a deeper cut in trench. Pipe’s flow water from one sump pit to the other in case of an overflow.
These are before photos, wait until you see the results of the finished project.
I did mention above this involves hard work. Although, to make the work easier, just think of the thousands of dollars, yes thousands of dollars, you can save by doing it yourself.
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Check out my YouTube channel video: Basement inside waterproofing
1a : Water Getting In Basement
1b :Reason your basement leaks
2 : (You are on this post) How to seal basement inside walls
