<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt also prevents water vapor from leaving your basement if it’s already there. It’s pretty easy to dry a basement if there is a vapor barrier though. You can light a few candles, turn on a fireplace, or place some moisture absorbers around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, I’ve found that moisture absorbers work the best at limiting airborne water vapors. I need to change them about once a year<\/strong>, and there is no vapor barrier in my basement. Since they work so well without a vapor barrier, then they’ll work great if you do have one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe last thing to check while you are outside are your windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Prep The Windows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCheck the windows outside for proper sealing. If you see broken lines of caulk, rot, mold, or moss on any window outside then waterproofing it from the outside needs to be your top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clean up the outside and dry it well before<\/strong> you work on it. If there is only minor damage to wood then using a wood filler a great idea. Otherwise, you may want to consider replacing your frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf there is only a little caulk missing then putting a little down just to reseal should be fine. Make sure that if you do this you first remove<\/strong> all the oils off the old caulk before putting down new caulk.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOnce the outside of your basement windows is waterproofed then move inside and start looking at the windows. You’re looking for the same signs: Rotted wood and broken caulk beads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any inside damage preventing waterproofing could be hidden by a window sill or window casing. You will have to remove these to know how well the windows are waterproofed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you’ve checked your windows for weak leaks in waterproofing and fixed any of them you can put your sill and case back on. Sills normally have only a few nails, making them pretty easy to just pull off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In doing this though you might damage the wood underneath the sill. So pry carefully<\/strong>, slowly, and as straight up as possible. The same goes for the casing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOnce you’re done with windows it’s time to look at inside problems that need waterproofing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Survey The Ceiling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe ceiling of your basement is a great indicator of any leaky pipes. What we are looking for here is any waterproofing that needs to be done between the floors. Mainly leaky pipes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water damage on a ceiling will have discoloration<\/strong>. Depending on the color of your ceiling, the discoloration will look different. On white ceilings, it will look like a brown outline. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThere may also be molds<\/strong> growing around any discolorations. Especially if the discoloration is in a corner. Corner discoloration will be addressed in a little bit though.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe second big indicator is if the ceiling is sagging<\/strong>. This is a big problem. It means one of two things with both of them involving water damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe first one means one of your pipes is currently<\/strong> leaking and there is a lot of water being deposited there. So there is currently a whole lot of water being supported by the panels of your ceiling. The best way to fix this is to grab a lot of buckets, a Phillips screwdriver, and start poking holes. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBeware<\/strong> though. Doing this has the potential of causing the panels to fail and releasing all the water onto you. So make you have the area properly protected before you do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe second one means that there was once<\/strong> a leaky pipe and it has since been taken care of. That means there isn’t anything you can do except replace the panels for aesthetics. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCeiling panels themselves really aren’t waterproof and they seldom are made to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Remove Flooring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nFor the rest of the waterproofing process, you will be dealing with flooring and insulation. Before<\/strong> you start continuing make sure that your house doesn’t have any vapor barriers and figure out if your basement has any supporting walls. This can be done by consulting a contractor and your building records.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLet’s talk about what a finished basement is. Basements weren’t ever finished until the mid-seventies. They weren’t intended to be lived in. A finished basement must<\/strong> have electricity, walls (other than exterior) that match the upstairs at least mostly, and heat. That means a basement finished by a contractor probably has a proper vapor barrier and shouldn’t be worried about.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf a contractor did not finish the basement then there’s a good chance it does not have a vapor barrier. This means you will need to install it by removing your flooring, plasterboard, and sub-flooring. It’s a big task. So if you don’t feel up to it then hire someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before<\/strong> you start pulling things up you need to look around the flooring and walls trying to find any water damage. If there is any, mark the area. We will come back to this after everything is removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you are removing carpet there isn’t much to it. Remove the baseboards. This can be done by simply prying them off. Pull the carpet off of its tack strips. Be careful so you don’t damage the carpet (unless you are going to be getting new carpet). Pulling the pad off can be a pain though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carpet pads often rip. They are really<\/strong> fragile. So either, be careful when pulling it up. Very very slow and careful. Or plan on buying a new pad. Then pull the staple out of the floor. You must remove all the staples. If you do not, then reinstalling the carpet will be much more difficult. Not to mention that they stab through the carpet and poke bare feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you are removing hard flooring then you will need to essentially do the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep removing things until you get down to OSB or plywood. That’s the subflooring and we’ll address that next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Remove The Sub-Flooring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Before<\/strong> you start tearing this out (if there is any) look around for water damage. Mark the area and we’ll come back to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIf your basement was finished by someone who didn’t know much about this, there might not be any subfloor. Subflooring <\/strong>is OSB or plywood. Newer subfloors can have vapor barriers on the bottom of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRemoving this is pretty straightforward. It will just be removing anchors and pulling the boards up. Be careful as you remove anchors. Chances are that they are anchored straight into the concrete. That means that any damage done to the concrete will need to be repaired for the anchors to be effective again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n