My new ICF walkout basement house is covered with PLATON drainage plane material. This is black plastic stuff with big dimples and comes in a roll that is attached to the rim board and goes down to the footing drain. It should do the job but is butt ugly and needs to be covered with something.
I plan to put stucco from the rim board up and need something to cover from there down to or a little below grade. Anybody have a suggestion that doesn’t look like mobile home skirting?
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See http://www.systemplaton.com/pdf/ARM-Platon-install-foundprep-5.pdf. According to the instructions, the product is supposed to be installed to the grade line rather than above grade. Is it too late to correct the installation so that it is installed to the manufactures recommendations?
I suppose the stuff could be trimmed off to grade as soon as I know where the finished grade is but the top edge of the roll has no dimples for about 3 inches and this is what lays flat onto the attached surface. PLATON makes metal attachment plates that hook onto the first row of dimples below the flat part and use screws to hold the stuff up. If I cut to grade, the flat spot will be gone and lots of entrance holes for moisture will appear between the dimples.
I suppose some sort of a flashing could be made to cover the newly cut top edge as it follows the grade down the hill but I would really like to leave it and cover it.
I have platon too. Its curled out and black and ugly, and I have a few thoughts, I'll decide by spring.
I want to trim it to grade and stucco over it. This will involve either cement board (I need to check if this is ok outdoors) or just lath and 3 coat stucco, right over the platon down to grade. I think with the right screws, the lath will be tight to the house and hold the platon in. I will definitely use platon again - its a quality product, some even think its overkill.
On the upside, my basement is nice and dry!
Give me the details of how you will use the cement board. Will this be big sheets that you screw to the ICF webs or just a strip of siding over the place where you cut the PLATON off?
Sounds like a possible fix that should hold the stucco in any case.
I have a band board across the middle of my house, separating the hardie plank (above) from what is still bare ICF below. I was going to screw the cement board to the walls continuously from the band down.
I am leaning toward the lath and stucco option, however, since I would have to stucco the cement board for looks anyway... I am thinking stainless screws with big washer type heads will do the trick.
Is this making sense without a drawing?
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SamR: what I did was put screws into my ICF webs to support the Platon below the new grade (fastener schedule is given in the instructions for the Platon), then trim your Platon at what you figure will be the new grade. I'd err a few inches above the new grade to keep the top of the membrane out of the dirt. Cut a circular saw kerf into your ICF about 1" deep. Insert a simple aluminum angle molding with drip edge that covers the top edge of the Platon, and caulk the gap- this holds the flashing in place, as well as keeping water from your wall finish from ending up in your wall assembly. Then apply EIFS (polymer-modified fake stucco) to your ICFs.
...and I hope there's something on the outside of your ICFs aside from just the Platon. Platon is a drainage plane or capillary break, not truly a membrane, so the wall itself does need some waterproofing to make sure it stays dry. I used that blue roller-applied latex rubber goop- $100 for a 5 gallon pail, but worked a charm.
This house is in Wyoming where it doesn't rain very much and there is no other subsurface moisture source. No--there is nothing else on the ICF except the PLATON.
Your flashing idea sounds OK though. Thanks for the info.