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andrew_murphy19

Wet basement renovation assistance.

5 years ago

Hi there. I am new to this app. Looking for some advice. I am re doing a 160sq/ft bedroom in a basement apartment. It’s completely gutted. I’ve installed a new window where an obvious source of water was coming in. I’ve also applied two coats of Berh DRYPLUS on the block wall. We’ve been having a lot of heavy rain this Summer. Whenever it rains, there’s water coming up from underneath the foundation. Also, the block wall is damp about 3’ up from the floor. The subfloor appears to be lower than the footing. Also, installing a weeper (exterior or interior) is not an option.

Any advice on moving forward here? The plan at this point is to just throw self levelling cement over everything and lay ceramic tiles.

Comments (3)

  • 5 years ago

    Cinderblock walls are notorious for leaking. Cheaper to do but need to be sealed FROM OUTSIDE. This should be accompanied by a buried drainage pipe that drains away water collecting at base of wall. That is expensive to do after the fact as would need to excavate to access outside of wall. First, look at drainage outside the house. Make sure downspouts divert water away from the house and ground slops away. If water is getting in, the cheapest reliable solution is a french drain. Essentially create a channel to let the water into a channel in a controlled manner and feed to a pit with a sump pump to get rid of it.


    Applying a sealant on inside does not hold in the long run as cinderblock is porous and fills with water until it finds a place to leak through or enough pressure builds that it pushes out sealant surface coating on inside.

  • 5 years ago

    Water coming up from the slab is a HUGE issue. You would need to seal the ENTIRE cement slab in the basement (not just the bedroom). And you have to run the sealant UP the masonry. In other words you would do the opposite of what you've just done.


    And cement over wet cement = crumbling cement. Tile over crumbling cement = useless and expensive.


    If you MUST develop this space, I would look at a subfloor system like DRICORE R+. It can handle a SMALL amount of seeping water from the slab (slab looks damp/dark but NO puddles).


    Other than that, you are extremely limited. Without sealing the basement slab, you are going to be adding bad good money over WORSE money. I give it 7 years before it all has to be jacked out...Maybe less if you continue to see wet summers followed by wet falls followed by wet winters.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    I appreciate your help guys! This has been super helpful. Thank you.