Basement sealing suggestions

[leftofcool]

We are looking at a house with a huge basement. It is clean, nicely painted, no leaks and no mold but we want to turn this into an art studio. We will be replacing the staircase but want to totally seal the basement. Any suggestions as to what to use. We will not be doing this ourselves but will hire the work done but want to know if anyone else has sealed their basement.

Left of Cool

[Kolesar]

1. That asphalt coating on the outside of the foundation walls is to prevent water from wicking...

...through the concrete block and into your basement rooms.

I did a lot of examination of this subject when our basement floor had a water problem. There is a commonly-held idea that the "fix" is to seal up every crack to keep water out. However, a foundation is not like a boat: you cannot seal every crack and expect it to hold water.

If you had existing water problems, you might have to install a "perimeter drain". It looks like you are lucky enough not to have that problem.

Presumably, you want the room to be dry enough that it does not ruin any of your materials. I recommend trying to assess the room as it is. Does paper and cloth seem dry? From your description, you have a mold free basement and you are okay so far. You could obtain a humidity gauge to be sure.

The biggest problem in my "humid continental" (Ohio) climate is the high humidity in the summer. Hot air can hold a huge amount of water vapor. When that air moves into the basement, the air becomes cooler, the air becomes "saturated" and the water vapor begins to condense on the cold pipes and onto your supplies. The easy fix for this is to close the windows and close the door to basement after you pass through. This prevents the exchange of air.

If you keep the door closed and run a dehumidifier to remove the remaining water vapor from the air, you should have a splendid work environment. The dehumidifier should not have to run "much" and you won't be gobbling up a huge amount of electricity.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. A couple things....

"nicely painted, no leaks and no mold" sometimes raises a red flag for me if it is "freshly painted"........ the sellers might be hiding something. But I am a suspicious person.


That said, the best way to keep water out is to keep water away from the house. The is especially true with block foundations (don't know what you are looking at). If there are no problems, keep it that way by maintaining/cleaning gutters and ensuring the ground slopes away from the house (i.e during landscaping projects).

Recently, I had occasion to visit a friend's family home that she inherited some 20 years ago. She doesn't live in it full-time and she doesn't really have money to keep it up. A couple years ago she was bemoaning the fact that she had to have part of the foundation repaired at substantial cost. Fast forward a couple years when I visited, the OTHER side of the foundation was about to collapse because the gutters on that side were either missing or completely clogged. Water was pooling in one spot on that side of the house. The block in the basement is seriously deteriorated.

[leftofcool]

3. Thanks both of you.

The home in question does have a block foundation and was built back in the mid 70's. We have seen photos of the basement prior to it being freshly painted and it looked nice even then. There is plenty of drainage around the home, has new gutters and appears to be solid as a rock. We made the offer today on it and think we will be okay with it.

Left of Coolo

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. Good luck on the offer. How exciting!