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Homeowner Forum / Construction / February 2006Sealing concret slab floor
I'm remodelling my 55 yr old Eichler. It has radiant heat in the concrete floor. There seems to be moisture seepage through the concrete floor. Pressure testing the heating system shows no problem. I ran the plastic test, and during rainy season here, we definitely see moisture coming from the concrete. The soil is not well'drained and contains a lot of clay, so once it does get damp (no matter how much slope), the moisture is going to seep through the concrete. I have googled around and done some research. There seems to be opionions that any topical coating will not solve the moisture problem, but I haven't been able to find any information about what does solve the moisture problem (short of complete demolition). I've had several estimates by concrete contractors, who brought consulting soils engineers with them. The only bid I got back was by one guy that wanted to remove the concrete floor, put down a vapor barrier, and replace the entirue floor. Also he recommended removing the clay beneath (who knows how deep?). That estimate was of course out of my price range. I am familiar with elastomeric membranes put over decks which seal moisture out. They last but break down as a result of UV sunlight attacks, and need replacing. Has anyone applied an elastomeric membrane over the concrete and resolved the moisture seepage problem? Or has anyone out there applied some other topical solution which did solve a moisture seepage problem? I'm looking for product recommendations and results, not theory and conjecture. Any help would be appreciated. Rock Your first efforts should be to improve surface drainage away from your house, especially gutters and flower beds. It sounds as if your house should have had a drain system installed when it was built. French drain systems can be installed on the inside perimeter, piped to a sump, and pumped to storm. You can attempt to lower the water table in your immediate vicinity by drilling one or more large pier holes outside the house and filling with gravel. If you only suffer from damp concrete with no live water coming up through cracks and joints, you might try this material. I have not used it on horizontal surfaces, but it works great on vertical surfaces. http://www.xypex.com/ ______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) dgriff237@7cox.net > I'm remodelling my 55 yr old Eichler. It has radiant heat in > the [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > > Rock Thanks all for your input. I looked into french drains and the suggestions here on the specific installation method help a lot. I can rent a trencher and put the drains in. I've already piped the gutters to the sidewalk which is a little lower. Actually, that stopped the plastic test failure, but we haven't had much rain since I did it so who knows. One question: the xypex material application will require me to sandblast the surface. Ihave a 40lb pressure blaster. If you could recommend the pressure and material (I prefer walnut shells because of the ecological impact of aluminimum oxide), I'd appreciate it. I assume you've had to blast the walls from time to time. If 40lbs isn't enough, I can rent a blaster, but that pressure seemed to be pretty good for some metal I had to blast. The surface of the floor had thin black slate (can you believe it?) and the removal left a black residue. Some of it washes off, but I'm sure there's stuff left in the pores, (when I wash it, there's kind of a black tinge to the crete) so blasting is appropriate. I've just never blasted concrete before. Thanks! Rock. >Your first efforts should be to improve surface drainage away from >your house, especially gutters and flower beds. [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] >> >> Rock > There seems to be > opionions that any topical coating will not solve the moisture > problem, > the only bid I got back was by one guy that > wanted to remove the concrete floor, put down a vapor barrier, and [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I am familiar with elastomeric membranes put over decks which seal > moisture out. > Has anyone applied an elastomeric membrane over the concrete and > resolved the moisture seepage problem? Or has anyone out there [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Rock You have been given a very good recommendation that should solve your problem, you choose not to accept it and search for a cheaper solution. You compare elastomeric that keeps water OUT of wood and you would like someone to suggest you use a topical solution to keep water IN think about your suggestions, you cannot keep water from seeping in by putting a sealer on the wrong side of a leak, either roofing, siding or flooring. Good luck in your search kickstart The problem with a topical solution is that you are still losing some heat through the wet slab. I'd do as recommended and put a deep French drain all the way around the house, making sure all gutter drains go into it. I'd dig a relatively wide trench at the perimeter of the house foundation and put polystyrene foam as a vapor and heat barrier vertically in the trench, against the subterranean part of the foundation and lower, to reduce horizontal moisure wicking and then put the french drain and gravel outside that. We live in an adobe soil area too, but you can dry out the area under the house. At least you should try. The tile overlay stuff will probably work too, and it should be done to prevent the possibility of cracking the tile, but it's better to remove the moisture problem no matter what. I have used a company called Engineering Heritage for sealing concrete slabs. They use Sofix, a water based sealer that allows the concrete to breathe one way. It is not a surface finish, it is absorbed into the concrete. Sofix is new to the uk and is imported from the States. It is low cost (they did 2000m2 for £10K). The website is www.engineeringheritage.co.uk. I hope this helps. Douglas |
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