Question: The house I live in has a block foundation. When it rains, water enters the house through the corners and on some parts of the wall. I am not familiar with the outside below-grade drainage details. However, I am remodeling the basement and wouldn’t want to experience water leakage problems there. What water damage restoration Sacramento recommendations would you make?
Answer: In order for you to effectively deal with the issue of water leakage, you need to deal with the outside surfaces of the foundation. To prevent moisture problems, you need to work on a number of things. This includes controlling water runoff on the surface, ensuring good subsurface soil drainage, damp-proofing the foundation and setting up an effective drainage around the border of the foundation. The unfortunate thing is that you are not sure about what has been done in regards to the outside of the foundation below-grade. Digging up the foundation can be quite expensive. However, this doesn’t mean that all is lost. There are water damage restoration Sacramento measures that you can put in place to increase the chances of having a dry and completed basement.
The first step that you can take is to install gutters on the roof of your house, connect the gutters to downspouts and ensure that they drain water at least ten feet away from the house. You should also put a clay layer just beneath the topsoil around the perimeter of the house. This will reduce the amount of water that finds its way into your house. The next step is to ensure that the soil around your house gently slopes away from the house so that it can drain the water away.
Another basement waterproofing suggestion is for you to damp-proof the foundation wall. You can use a product like Sto Watertight Coat. This product will give your wall an additional protection against moisture. This is because it has a permeability rating of about 1.2. The lowest rating you should ever go for is 1. There are so many positive reviews about this product when it comes to it being water resistant, especially when used in commercial buildings. This product lowers the chances of water sipping through the soil into the inside of the foundation.
The thing about internal damp-proofing is that the moisture from outside will be applying pressure against this product and pushing the coating off the wall. Therefore, find a product that sticks well against the wall. This product is not a protection against cracks that might develop on the foundation.
To make the space more livable, you can complete your Sacramento water damage repair by installing foam insulation on the inside of the foundation surface, after you have applied and cured the damp proofing. Ensure the foam insulation is properly sealed on the edges, so that air doesn’t leak onto the cold foundation and form moisture. Then build a wood wall that hasn’t been insulated far from the foundation. Your electrical and water pipes can pass through this wood. Keep this frame above dew temperature so that condensation doesn’t form on it.