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Sealing interior basement walls bobprokop 08-23-2007
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Posted by on August 23, 2007, 10:17 pm
Situation: 70-year old house, poured foundation. Certain walls have
moisture issues; seepage, deterioration of concrete; other walls are
fine. Gutters drain into underground (cast iron) pipe; I've closed a
couple of those off and no longer use them. Gutters in decent shape,
grading OK -- but I don't have mulch down in the beds near the house
for fear of artillery (shotgun) mold. I've only been in the house for
9 months; water has been an issue for a very long time w/certain walls
because there is evidence of previous owner repair. Overall, house is
in good shape for her age.

Decision: I'm planning on sealing 2-3 of the more troublesome walls
from the inside w/RadonSeal Plus (www.radonseal.com). My friend used
it on his basement slab. I'm in the process of removing old paint and
prepping the walls for application (lots of paint scraper blades being
dulled down!).

Question: Do you have any experience with this product? Do you think
this is a good idea? RadonSeal claims to penetrate up to 4" (oh -- I
don't have an issue w/Radon levels -- it just seems like the best
product for these particular walls). Supposedly, it penetrates the
porous concrete and fills the gaps and hardens (after purging foreign
matter to the surface for removal). You simply spray it on with a
garden pump-type sprayer. Key is surface prep. After that, I plan on
fixing any cracks (injection and/or epoxy), then smoothing out rough
areas with a skim coat. Once that has cured, I'll either apply more
RadonSeal Plus -- or use another of their products, IonBond (more of a
surface sealer, although this supposedly penetrates up to 2").
Finally, I'll finish w/waterproofing paint.

Does this sound like a good plan to you? Yes, it's hard (and dirty)
work -- but I want to try what I can inside before any excavation
outside. On a good day, I can already get the humidity level down to
40-45%; on a bad day, it can hit the mid-to-high 60% range.

Concerns: is it OK to use such a product? Will the fact that it
doesn't reach all the way through to the outside cause more pressure
to build up? I also plan on sealing all the outside masonry (brick on
top of poured foundation -- it's a Tudor Revival), so that should also
help.

Any guidance, suggestions, or alternative solutions are very much
appreciated.

Thanks!


Plumbing 468x60
Posted by aemeijers on August 23, 2007, 11:22 pm

> Situation: 70-year old house, poured foundation. Certain walls have
> moisture issues; seepage, deterioration of concrete; other walls are
> fine. Gutters drain into underground (cast iron) pipe; I've closed a
> couple of those off and no longer use them. Gutters in decent shape,
> grading OK -- but I don't have mulch down in the beds near the house
> for fear of artillery (shotgun) mold. I've only been in the house for
> 9 months; water has been an issue for a very long time w/certain walls
> because there is evidence of previous owner repair. Overall, house is
> in good shape for her age.
Unless you can confirm that the pipes the downspouts drain into go into a
working drain and away from the house, I'd pull apart and cap those
connections, and add elbows and conventional splash blocks. When I did that
to this place, almost all the basement water problems magically went away.

aem sends....



Posted by ransley on August 24, 2007, 9:33 am
>
70-year old house, poured foundation. Certain walls have
> > moisture issues; seepage, deterioration of concrete; other walls are
> > fine. Gutters drain into underground (cast iron) pipe; I've closed a
> > couple of those off and no longer use them. Gutters in decent shape,
> > grading OK -- but I don't have mulch down in the beds near the house
> > for fear of artillery (shotgun) mold. I've only been in the house for
> > 9 months; water has been an issue for a very long time w/certain walls
> > because there is evidence of previous owner repair. Overall, house is
> > in good shape for her age.
>
> Unless you can confirm that the pipes the downspouts drain into go into a
> working drain and away from the house, I'd pull apart and cap those
> connections, and add elbows and conventional splash blocks. When I did that
> to this place, almost all the basement water problems magically went away.
>
> aem sends....

Run the drains on the lawn away from the house maybe 8 ft. The best
way to fix the water comming in is to water proof from the outside but
its expensive. A concrete -rubber waterproofing paint is avalaible it
can take up to 7 coats to work I think its called UGL avalaible most
everywhere.


Posted by The Reverend Natural Light on August 24, 2007, 3:14 pm
>
> Unless you can confirm that the pipes the downspouts drain into go into a
> working drain and away from the house, I'd pull apart and cap those
> connections, and add elbows and conventional splash blocks. When I did that
> to this place, almost all the basement water problems magically went away.
>

I'll second that recommendation.

The builder of my place ran the downspouts into the foundation drains
(really!) which probably plugged up in the first season. The previous
owner watched the basement flood for 30+ years before hiring a
waterproofing contractor who jackhammered interior french drains and
installed a sump pit. What a rip off.

The first thing I did after buying the place was run the downspouts
into plastic pipes out across the lawn (someday I'll bury them). The
french drain has been dry for three years now.




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