Want to finish basement - DIY Chatroom

mopared · 02-17-2005, 11:14 PM

Hi,
I am brand new to this forum. I have an unfinished basement we are considering making an additional bedroom/tv room out of. It is somewhat damp in the room. I run a dehumidifier and it pulls out a gallon of water every 3 days or so. I live in the Northeast and it is pretty cool in the basement, around 50-55 degrees, and I control the humidity to 45% with the dehumidifier. My question concerns how to finish and seal this space to make it suitable for use as a bedroom. Can I use heavy poly against the walls and floor before I adding studding and flooring? What would you recommend?

MinConst · 02-18-2005, 07:23 AM

mo,
You will want to stop the moisture from entering the basement. Depending on the construction, you can use drylock on the wall, seal the floor etc. Is there heat down there? Air movement? I wouldn't recommend just useing sheet poly as it will only reroute the problem.
First thing with a basement remodel is to get it dry.
you will also want to put a good subfloor down. Dricore is one manufacturer. http://www.dricore.com/en/eindex.htm
Good luck

mopared · 02-19-2005, 11:11 PM

Thanks for the reply. So, you recommend sealing the concrete walls and floor with something like drylock, not just polyethylene sheeting. I will heat the basement yes, after it is insulated and finished. I have been running the dehumidifier for a few years now to prevent any issues from excess moisture. I was wondering if it was ok to use plastic sheet to prevent the moisture from coming in. Any other suggestions? Thanks again.

MinConst · 02-20-2005, 06:49 AM

Ed,
Drylock is not for the floor. Concrete floor sealer is for that. Dricore will do the floor. It is a subfloor.
http://www.dricore.com/en/eindex.htm
Do the test. Take some 1' square pieces of clear plastic and tape them to your walls in several places on the basement walls. Look at them in a few days. This will tell you if moisture is seeping in through the walls.
Moisture is the second think to look for after height when considering a basement remodel.
The only true way to stop moisture from entering is from the outside. This can be quite expensive but solves the problem at the root cause. There are injection systems that will seal the block by pumping sealer from outside.
Bottom line is you want it to be dry so your work won't be ruined.