A friend is asking about a new 2 year old home that they are now getting around to remodeling the basement to make it livable. They are wondering if it is worth the time and expense to coat the interior concrete basement walls with a concrete waterproofing paint. They explain that the exterior of their foundation was sprayed with an asphalt coating and it has a 10 year warranty for protection.
This is a very common thing for people to do today. If your basement is large enough to turn into a living space then it is no longer only used for storage an a place for your home’s utilities like your furnace, water heater and maybe a place to store your pantry items.
Some people get very elaborate in their designs. You are likely to find bathrooms and bars, televisions and maybe even a home office or an extra bedroom. When it get hot in the summer your basement is cooler and when it is cold outside your basement is sometimes easier to heat.
One of the problems of basement living is moisture. Moisture can cause mold and bacteria to grow and higher humidity can sometimes cause breathing problems. It is very important to realize that you are now living in a hole. A hole that is like a cave and will hold moisture and receive it from exterior sources.
In our bathrooms and kitchens we have fans to remove the extra moisture from our homes and in our basements we may need to install dehumidifiers to remove the extra moisture.
With this in mind and an understanding that moisture in basements is not only a problem from the exterior but also the interior it is important to take all the steps you can to abate the problem from the start.
When foundations are installed there is normally a vapor barrier laid under the slab and the sidewalls will receive treatment in the form of a membrane or a sprayed on asphalt material. This is just the beginning and it is fine if you expect to spend most of your time above ground. If you intend to live in your basement for recreation, business or extended periods of the day or year then using a concrete sealing product such as a roll on paint is extremely worth the effort and cost.
If applying concrete sealer only improves the air quality a few percentage points you are going to make that back many times by lower electric costs for dehumidifying the air and just personal comfort.
Final Note
The saying goes don’t be penny wise and pound foolish and this saying goes back hundreds and hundreds of years so you know it stuck around because people try to save a few dollars and that ends up costing them much more in the end.
Remodeling basements and attics for living space are the harder things to do in construction. Sure you can throw a ping pong table and a few chairs down in the basement and call it done but if you want to have comfort there are a few things you really need to do.
Removing or preventing as much moisture as you possibly can with all reasonable efforts is a primary thing you need to do in basements.
The second most important thing is to use materials that are not effected by moisture and will cause mold to grow. There are special grades of drywall such as the fiberglass faced sheets that should be used instead of the paper faced sheets. Always use closed cell foam insulation if you are installing foam insulation because open cell can hold moisture. Use Ceramic Tile or Stone for a flooring not wood or carpet that can buckle if it gets moist or turn into a mold breading center.
Do your research and take your time and spend that extra couple nights preventing moisture by painting your walls and it will pay off many times in the end.