This can be very distressing, especially when dealing with a finished basement. The excessive moisture can result in serious damage to your living area. Excess moisture can ruin your carpet, drywall, floor treatment, upholstery and much more. A damp basement provides the perfect environment for molds and a wide variety of pests and insects.

What should you do?

Damp walls in basements can occur for various reasons. These can include issues as simple as clogged gutters that can be easily cleaned. They can also include more complex issues such as ground water problems that require intense basement waterproofing solutions.

Whatever the reason for the damp walls in your basement, the best thing you can do is to get in touch with a basement waterproofing contractor as soon as possible. They will inspect your basement and the rest of your home to establish the cause of the seepage. They will then provide you with a proposal for solutions to apply to remedy the problem.

Which system works best?

There are various solutions available for basement waterproofing. However, many of them are labor-intensive, not to mention invasive. This can be of great concern when your basement is finished. You wouldn’t want your investment to go down the drain.

The best thing to do in such a situation is to consult your waterproofing contractor on methods that will provide you with the benefits of waterproofing without ruining your finished basement. These are most often exterior waterproofing methods.

Exterior waterproofing involves digging up the soil around the foundation right down to the footer. The walls are cleaned and the cracks are filled. A waterproof coating is then applied followed by the waterproof membrane. A French drain is then installed at the footings to guide water away from the foundation. This process is labor-intensive and will result in the destruction of your landscaping close to the foundation. However, it will provide long term benefits.

In some cases, interior waterproofing may be recommended. This is especially true when dealing with walls that are damp only around the lower part of the foundation. This may involve the installation of a French drain on the interior side of the foundation wall. This is not as labor-intensive as exterior waterproofing.

Be sure to discuss your needs with your waterproofing contractor to get the best solution for your seepage problem.