Expert Q
Question:
I'm in the process of finishing my basement. We've had a history of water leakage from the foundation walls but have since had the outside foundation wall dug up and sealed. Is there a sealant I can apply to the inner wall before finishing it to help waterproof it? Second, the cement floor used to leak when there was large amounts of water (spring, heavy rain) but has since stopped when the foundation and weeping tiles were fixed. Can I also seal the basement floor (and fill the cracks) before I finish it?
Answer:
No, and no. There is no credible way of sealing walls nor floor from the inside if the house is old enough to have already had problems. Your solution, and you might not like this, is not to finish the basement because if you get more water in there, you won't be able to get at the wooden components that get soaked by it and the moulds that will grow there are not what you want to be ingesting in any way.
Answered By: Ren Molnar
More Questions & Answers ...
1.
I have a 1940's farmhouse with a 10" air space under the kitchen. I couldn't leave airflow space in one corner ...
2.
What can I put on a freshly cut tree stump to promote death and decay? ...
3.
Will treated lumber rot? If I was to build a cover for a septic tank, I have heard that it might rot quickly ...
4.
I have just replaced the 2x4 plate under the garage walls with dimensional 2x4 plastic lumber. I thought that ...
5.
I have a 20 year old sundeck at the back of my house. We have noticed that a few of the 1x5 slats are droppin ...
6.
How do we take vinyl off the floor that has been installed with adhesive on plywood? Is there any sealer that ...
7.
I have a lath and plaster house (as far as I know there is no vapor barrier in it). The house has rough stucco ...
8.
The joists for the deck are extended from inside the house to form the floor base. I would like to know how to ...
9.
Our 20 year old, painted, wood garage doors need fixing up. The surface wood is peeling and beyond repair and ...
10.
We want to re-shingle our roof. However, we have been getting conflicting advice about the use of tarpaper und ...
11.
The best way to "deck" an asphalt-based, waterproofed roof membrane surface over the top of our kitchen (12� ...
12.
We have a deck on the second storey made of cedar with steel frame. The cedar is splintering badly so that we ...
13.
I have three fence posts that are rotten and broken at the ground level. I have removed the fencing around th ...
14.
I have a window problem in that the bottom plate (that I can see from the outside of the house) is totally rot ...
15.
A cedar post has rotted and collaped onto itself. I would like to replace it but I am wondering whether it sho ...
16.
I have a mouldy musty smell coming from a store room on the first floor of my 3 level towhouse. It appears to ...
17.
I'm in the process of finishing my basement. We've had a history of water leakage from the foundatio ...
18.
In the fall of 2000 we had a 16x12 addition put on our house, using sauna tubes and pressure treated lumber. O ...
19.
I have read through you archives and am pleased to find that once a window's seal is broken, it can be re ...
20.
I will be building a cottage this summer . It will be sitting on concrete block piers 3 feet off the ground an ...
21.
I'm looking into a second home "up north" in Michigan. The home inspector found rotted rim joists. I hav ...
22.
We are in the process of rebuilding (from the foundation up) a cottage in Northern Ontario. The original build ...
23.
We wish to remove the old flooring on our side porch( 2x4 lumber) and replace it with same. The old lumber is ...
24.
Hi!
25.
When I was re-insulating our attic this week, I noticed a 12" rotting piece on the underside of the roofing pl ...
26.
My home is 12 years old. The dryer vents into a crawl space in my basement. Is this normal? Should vent this t ...
27.
I recently built in an existing deck to make an additional room. The deck sits approximately 4 feet above the ...
28.
We have a two story brick house 25 years old. There is a wood balcony accessed through sliding doors in the ma ...
29.
Our home has a mansard roof and we have to replace the shingles on the four sides. We have quotes from four ro ...
30.
Since your inspection at Silver Lake, Ontario, I have installed ridge vents on cottage and shed, dug a trench ...
31.
Have a bay window which is 5X5' with 2 side windows which we can open. The horizontal bottom is rotted to whe ...
32.
We intended to put an addition on but the contractor found rotten wood and on and on it goes. So many dollars ...
33.
A 20 year old house with a problem of water and mold in concrete block basement. We dug up and replaced weepin ...
34.
Many years ago the rec. room ceiling was insulated and I don't think it should be. The room is directly under ...
