I have a friend who wants to put an office in their basement. The existing concrete floor needs to be leveled and there are some concerns about water coming up through the floor in very rainy weather. I was wondering if there is a product that is self leveling and would seal the floor against future water problems. Vinyl flooring would be the finished surface.
Thanks,
DJW
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Replies
No. Nothing you put on the inside will seal basement floor or walls against future water problems.
Sure there is Unc...you did not think of another eight feet of concrete..that'll do it.
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Well. Yeah. But if you're going to put in eight feet of fill, concrete is too expensive. Eight feet of road base will work just fine.
What they say is true -- nothing will seal a basement from the inside.
Re leveling the floor, it depends a lot on how much leveling is needed. If only 1/4-1/2" here and there you can use any of a number of concrete patching products that claim to be "featherable" out to a thin edge. Be sure to clean/etch the old concrete first.
For larger areas, especially if you need to go up to an inch or more, you probably want a concrete (with aggregate) product for the thicker areas and a patching product for the edges and thinner areas.
You could level the area by putting down wood sleepers (shimmed as required) and a plywood floor on top, but the basement must be assured to be dry for that.
I was going to use the sleeper method using 3/4" p.t. wood with plywood screwed and glued on top. Do you think that I should leave the ends of the bays open so that moisture can escape? Do you think that I will have a problem with moisture wicking up through the wood and causing the vinyl to loosen? Should the plywood be sealed on top? Thanks for the help.
DJW
That depends on why you have concerns. What signs are there now? Water stains three inches high on the walls, or just generall caution with no symptoms presenting? or something in between.
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They've had water problems in the past. They had footing drains and a sump pump installed which has greatly helped. However, when it really rains heavy and hard, I guess the sump can't keep up and there is some seepage to the inside. She seems to think that it comes up through the floor and not in through the walls.
Dryloc is pretty good but I do not know how it will wear on the floor