DIY for Damp Basements
- 1). Inspect your gutters to ensure that they're connected, and the rainwater they carry flows away from the house. Also check the grading around your home. Again, water should flow away from your home. Tree roots sometimes get tangled in the tiles around a home. Consult a plumber to make sure the tiles are clear, and while he's there, ask him if a sump pump might be in order.
- 2). Eliminate cracks or holes in your basement walls and floor. Mix patch compound with water until it feels like putty. Use your fingertips to press the compound into each hole or crack, filling it even with the wall or floor.
- 3). Let the compound dry for an hour or two. Then check each hole or crack you filled. If the compound has sunk into any of the holes or cracks, add more.
- 4). Run your fingers over all the filled holes or cracks after an hour or two. If any compound protrudes, sand it down. Let the filled holes and cracks dry overnight.
- 5). Before waterproofing, tape plastic sheeting over any large appliances that are too difficult to remove from the basement. Open doors to the basement to provide ventilation, and wear a dust mask.
- 6). Sweep the dust from the walls and the floor. Mop the floor with clean water, and let the floor air dry.
- 7). Start at the top of the wall in one corner of the basement. Using a paintbrush, apply a thin, even coat of waterproof sealer to the 6 inches or so at the top of the wall and 6 inches out from each corner. Once you edge the entire wall in this manner, switch to a natural-fiber paint roller, like lambswool, to apply sealer to the rest of the wall.
- 8). Go back to the paintbrush, and even out the sealer at the bottom of the wall.
- 9). Repeat on each wall, painting the perimeter with the paintbrush and using the roller on the rest.
- 10
Use the paintbrush to apply sealer to the perimeter of the floor 6 inches in from each wall. - 11
Apply the remainder of the sealer to the floor with the paint roller, working from the wall opposite the door to the wall with the door so that you can get out of the room when you finish. Apply three to four coats of sealer, giving the sealer eight to 10 hours of drying time between each coat.