Basement Moisture Problems !!

Recently I had a customer asking me about moisture problem in her basement and what could be done to fix it !! 

Her basement was properly finished few years ago with a foam under pad, Dri Core substrate and laminate flooring . She called me and told me that she had to rip it all up because they found the equivalent of 6 liters of water coming from underneath the sub floor towards the furnace room drain !!

When people call me about these kind of issues and ask me what to do, the first thing I tell them is not to panic and to take a step back before tearing everything apart too quickly !! There are few reasons that can cause water in a basement, but not all of them are dramatic !!

The most critical is the foundation wall water infiltration !! This type of problem can be fixed from the inside or the outside of your house, but my favorite way of seeing it been taken care of is from the outside and I will explain why !!

First is to figure out where the leak is coming from (You have to start by removing the drywall on the lower half of the wall at the damp location) !! Next thing is to look for cracks of water marks on the concrete !! If the water is coming from a crack in only one spot, it could be one of the easiest and inexpensive leak to fix, since you'll be able to call a company who does epoxy injections so they can inject their product to seal the crack directly from the inside of your basement (Epoxy expands in a way that when they inject it in theses straws, it expands directly from the inside right to the outside of the concrete walls) !! That should mean the end of the worries since it would form a complete seal pretty much as hard as concrete !!

If, on the other hand, water seems to be coming from a wider area or your concrete showing a big damp spot on your foundations wall, it could be a bit more to fix than just filling a little crack !! It could either mean that your weeping tiles are clogged or that you have a grading problem !! Houses older than 15 to 20 years, especially the ones that where built before the 70's and had clay weeping tiles can be sensitive to water problems since they had an inefficient water proofing or an aging weeping system !! I would like to compare aging weeping tiles, to old arteries !! Clay especially is a fragile material so after many years, it's not rare to see the pipes lose their integrity and just collapse or get clogged !! The butt end assembly of the clay weeping tiles wasn't so ideal, because on top of allowing shifting and debris or mud to get inside the waterway, it would also be inviting for tree roots which you don't want to invite in your drain, because they can cause serious collateral damage !! When your drains get clogged for various reasons, water that was supposed to be drawn away from your foundations, get stuck against the concrete and end up finding is way to the inside of your basement !! Concrete is a porous surface, it can be compared to a sponge !! Since it's not waterproof, it is crucial to drain water away from your foundation wall and to let it sit there for a long period of time !!

That is the reason why I always prioritize to fix a major leak from outside than inside !! Doing a half fast job on the inside instead of taking action were the real source of the problem is represent money thrown away, it feels like putting a band aid on the problem !!

To conclude this post I thought I would post some pictures about a condensation problem I recently had to look after !! Principal cause was too many shims blocking the airways under the dri core, some low spots in the concrete floor collecting water condensation, poor insulation and unfinished vapor barrier !! A recipe for trouble.....

Had to remove all the lower part of the wall, then lifting all the dri core and lanimate !!
Taping some vapor barrier to the floor and walls assured us that there was not too much condensation coming from the concrete !! We have left everything untouched for a couple of weeks through the rain and thaw to make sure that no water was gonna come in from anywhere !! Also it's important to make sure that the walls, the floor and the framing don't have any traces of mold before even thinking about re-construction !! If the is only few little dark spots on the wood or concrete just spray with some mold control or bleach and brush the spots vigorously !!


When comes time to re-build I have only few ad vices to give in y situation I had to deal with incomplete bat insulation and very poor vapor barrier job quality !! Any times you want to keep moisture away I suggest surfaces that are not porous or that will not grow mold !! My three best material in this case were spray foam, rigid insulation or roxul, because they will not promote mold, but since spray foam is a little more expensive the home owners opted for rigid insulation instead !!

I had to fix the framing to make sure that I could fit the panels in between without too much cutting and another thing to remember is that to keep a continuous seal its better to tape all the joist with vapor barrier tape !!

 The only last thing to keep in mind when you are gonna re-install drywall in a basement or a bathroom is to either go for a water resistant gypsum product or at least to keep it a good half an inch of the floor so the water doesn't go up in the material by capillarity next time there's is a water leak or a spill !! Following theses simple tricks should give you the ability to avoid further problems when you think about finishing your basement and save you a lot of headaches !!

Have fun !!

Best of luck !! If there's any questions about water problems feel free to ask I'll make sure to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge !!