You should always make sure to waterproof your basement walls when you are finishing it. Moisture entering through the walls of the basement  is the main reason that area of your house is more damp than the rest of the house. The most common reasons for water build-up problems in basements are caused usually by cracks, leaking windows and pipe condensation. Too much or prolonged water retention in the basement can cause a variety of problems.

Basement Wall Options

Among the available methods are:

- French Drains
- Hollow Baseboard Molding
- Sump Pumps
- Waterproofing
- Damp Proofing

French Drains – An exterior system running the perimeter or partial perimeter of your house for heavy rain run off drainage, or an interior system if water is coming into your basement through the floors or cove between the floor and the wall. A trench is dug round the inside perimeter of the wet basement floor. A perforated plastic drain tile pipe is installed and surrounded by gravel. The floor over the French drain system is sometimes re-cemented by repair and wet basement waterproofing contractors. A gap is left of between one and two inches in the floor, along the walls, which lets the web wall seepage drain below floor-level into the drain system. A drain that connects to a sump pump is usually  the French type.

System for installing a hollow baseboard channel use a waterprof-of epoxy for the bonding to the floor and joint. This empty molding will gather wet wall seepage as well as fluid which rises at the cove region. More often than not, linked to a sump pump.

One item you can include when waterproofing your basement walls is a sump pump that can be installed below the basement floor. The sump pumps through perforations in the sump well located close to it, can collect underground water. Sump pumps can also act as a good floor drain or be used to drain a variety of underground drainage pipes.

Wall Sealers – Varieties include spray applied basement wall sealers, brush or roller applied basement waterproofing sealers, or panel type basement waterproofing sealers for wet basement walls.

The truth is even with a good drainage system, it can’t assure a dry basement wall. We need to evaluate the most economical method to stop moisture from getting in the basement walls and this may be damp proofing and waterproofing.

Damp proofing means what?

You may be asking yourself what is involved in damp proofing your basement and the best example I can give of damp proofing would be to think of a castle with a moat and think about how to keep the water away from this castle; first you build the permiable pallette layer where you want the castle floor, then you would place a solid layer over that, then you would leave a vent space and lay your foundation; as for your walls, you would build your walls, then do your solid layer and then your permiable layer, and now you have damp proofed your castle.

Proofing products that are moist are usually made of tar in a solvent base.  Application is inexpensive but efficiency is limited since they are manufactured to retard and not to prevent moisture penetration.  The biggest problem is that, because this material becomes brittle, hairline cracks will appear as the foundation settles. Since the tar based coating does not stretch to cover these cracks, water will seep into the basement.

What is Waterproofing?

The water proofing products are such that they stop water penetrate into wet places as well. Because hydrstatic pressure in the soil after heavy rain or spring starts thawing.  Advanced Waterproofing Technologies provides supieor waterproofing protection as the products contain rubber and it allows flexibility when it dries.  The concrete or block has a waterproof coating that stretches to make the foundation completely waterproof.

How to Apply

Obviously it would be most sensible to use waterproofing as it offers better long term results and you might well find that it comes with a guarantee that lasts for up to thirty years.

Builders, many times in the past, paid little attention to waterproofing basement walls. At this point you have the opportunity to put this situation right with convenient products that have easy to follow instructions The products available in the market are easy to apply and mostly they are do it yourself types.  Available even in 5 gallon pails or 55 gallon drums, they are ready for use and do not require heating or other application equipment – just the use of a brush or roller.  You can even use a commercial airless sprayer which can be rented by the day.  Two people using rollers to waterproof a basement of about 1,000 square feet can accomplish the task easily in about two to three hours.  So get started and begin to enjoy your basement space without the dampness.