Before doing some basement remodeling, there are some things you must do first to make sure you don’t experience any future problems with your newly finished basement. Things like moisture and leakage can subject your finished basement to damage that may even be harder to fix.

Moisture is the most typical basement problem. Moisture can get in your basement from external sources or can develop from the inside by the resident’s activities. The ground surrounding your foundations can have large quantities of moisture from surface water that is leaking inside via a hole or *****. During the warmer days, moist air from the outside can get in the house and eventually result in condensation on the cold basement floors or walls.

What you should do to prevent leakage is to caulk up or fill in the cracks and holes on your walls and/or flooring before basement remodeling. To keep your basement dry and comfortable all year round, you should then incorporate proper heating, air conditioning and ventilation. Make sure downspouts, eavestroughs and grading lead surface water away from your home’s foundations. Also make sure the window wells drain freely.

Prior to basement remodeling, consider fixing or replacing a leaky roof and installing drainage below window wells. Incorporate a concrete floor over a sealed polyethylene moisture barrier as well as a perimeter drainage system. Without a floor drain, any water that happens to be inside can’t escape. In this case install working sump pumps. Once you troubleshoot the common basement problems, you can move on to redecorating your basement.

By: Casey Torren

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