During the construction of a house, it’s necessary to consider the protection of the basement from the effects of moisture. The waterproofing of the basement outside can be done with your own hands in order to save money. However, if you’re wanting it to be completed to the best standard possible, then contact a basement waterproofing Springfield (or in your location) company instead. Waterproofing layers can be performed in different ways, so several options should be considered at once. As a result, you can choose the most suitable method of work.

Why Is Water Proofing Basement Important?

In the case of a basement, special coating mixtures made on the basis of bitumen are very often used. Their prevalence is explained by the fact that such materials have a low price but successfully cope with all their main tasks. Recently, polymer mixtures that contain special fillers and modifiers have also been gaining popularity.

If you don’t know yet whether it’s necessary to isolate the basement, then examine the groundwater level on the site. It’s necessary to take into account the upper water, precipitation and capillary penetration of water. If there is a residential or technical room in your basement, it’s necessary to create a waterproofing barrier.

• If groundwater is located at a distance of less than 100 cm from the foundation of a country house, a high-quality waterproofing layer is required. At the same time, waterproofing will protect the basement base and walls from capillary moisture.
• When groundwater is located deeper, it’s not necessary to create a wide waterproofing layer. Traditional waterproofing with your own hands, which provides the protection of walls, is quite enough.

It’s very important to know about the materials used for basement waterproofing, the arrangement of which is always carried out outside the house at the construction stage. After all, protection from water in the basement can be carried out both at the construction stage (in a set of measures for waterproofing the foundation), and during the operation of the room. Therefore, the materials and technologies of work should complement each other.

How to Perform Basement Waterproofing

Bitumen-polymer and bitumen-rubber mixtures or mastics as well as cement-polymer mixtures are used to perform exterior basement waterproofing. You shouldn’t use ordinary bitumen for this purpose – it will quickly lose its elasticity and crack. In addition, coating waterproofing of basements is performed with liquid glass.

After drying, liquid bitumen materials create an elastic waterproof shell on the wall surface. They are applied with a brush, roller or spatula on a flat pre-plastered surface.

To protect your basement from capillary moisture and groundwater, horizontal and vertical waterproofing is performed. The horizontal one is necessary for the joints of the foundation walls. For a house with a basement, horizontal waterproofing is laid on a concrete layer, leaving eaves 600-800 mm wide around the perimeter. After the construction of the basement walls, vertical pasting waterproofing is arranged. Eaves of horizontal waterproofing are placed under the vertical one and welded using a building hair dryer. 

Vertical waterproofing is applied along the entire perimeter of the foundation wall on external and internal surfaces.