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Found 96 results for the search ‘Basement walls’

• Article

  Water running down the basement walls.

  Carol from Smith Falls has a new home but has had water running down her basement walls from the beginning, and no one, not even her builder, seems to be able to figure out why. As well, the problem seems to get better and worse with time, but still wet. First of all you need to keep in mind tha...
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  Creating Drainage Paths Under Basement Walls

    For years we have talked about protecting the sill plate of basement walls from moisture rising up from the concrete.  This could be water in the concrete from plumbing spills, or even from under the slab from a high-water table.  The old standard ways to protect that bottom piece of wood on t...
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  Basement walls -- Moisture & Vapour Barriers

  Do I need to place a vapour barrier against the brick wall, then insulation and then another vapour barrier over that?  The wall does not leak and is fully underground.  Barbara THE VAPOUR BARRIER The vapour barrier is more properly called a vapour retarder. It is designed to stop moisture in t...
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  How far down should you insulate on a basement wall?

  As you can see in the first graphic, the soil helps to insulate a basement so there is more heat lost on the top of the basement than on the bottom. That is why the National Building Code requires a minimum level of insulation in a basement that reaches from the floor boards above your head, down...
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  Air Spaces in Walls -- Myth and Science -- Overview

    Walls often have air spaces hidden somewhere between the siding on the outside and the drywall on the inside.  Some are accidental -- some on purpose, even code required -- some served a purpose at one time in history but because of the evolution of construction, are no longer useful -- some a...
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  Basement Perimeter Drainage and Leaking Foundations

  This article deals with walls below grade, foundation walls.  For insulating above grade cinder block walls see How do you Insulate a Brick and Block construction as well as Insulating an Above Grade Block Wall from the Inside. The best way to prevent water from leaking into the basement is not ...
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  WHAT IS BASEMENT FREEZE SHIFTING?

  There are two basic mechanisms which can cause a basement to move because of freezing temperatures -- ice-block formation and ad-freezing.Frost heaving: a form of ice-block formation occurs when moist soil lies under the foundation footings and the frost line or freezing-point penetration reac...
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  BASEMENT: INTERIOR OR EXTERIOR INSULATION?

  It is always better to insulate on the outside of basements and crawl spaces, but usually more expensive and more trouble. Brick or field stone foundations must not be insulated on the inside for much more than one foot below ground level. The poor quality of the mortar in these foundations dete...
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  Good and bad techniques in insulating basement walls.

  The national building code requires a minimum level of insulation in a basement that reaches about two feet below the outside grade level. The objective is to make this storage space a heatable space. Hence some materials and techniques have developed that satisfy this minimum code requirement th...
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  BASEMENT: FULL HEIGHT OR PARTIAL HEIGHT INSULATION?

  This is the most controversial question about basement insulation. Everyone, however, agrees on two points:-- Outside the wall, go as far down as you can afford to. -- Concrete block walls have large continuous air cavities that run the height of the wall. (The code now requires that this air ...
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  DO I NEED TO MOISTURE PROOF THE BASEMENT WALL BEFORE INSULATING?

  If there is no water leakage problem, but the basement walls are a bit damp, you must cover the walls before insulating. Waterproofing coatings are not really necessary for moisture proofing. Polyethylene plastic sheets or horizontal strips of building paper are sufficient. These should be hung o...
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  Floor covering in a basement

  I'm asked a lot about covering a floor in a basement. There are several considerations we need to deal with: the hard and cold concrete and maybe with levelling the floor. Of course we need to pay attention to water, either coming from outside the house or from plumbing spills inside the house si...
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  How do you insulate a basement wall that has a pony wall?

  Ron from Penticton, B.C. has a "stepped" foundation with a pony wall from the concrete to the ceiling above. This upper portion is insulated but not the concrete. He wants to insulate it all. He asks: "Does he have to remove the existing drywall, and does the vapour barrier need to extend over th...
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  HOW DO I PREVENT DRY ROT IN BASEMENT STUDS?

  Wood in contact with slightly humid concrete can easily develop dry rot. (search keyword "rot" for the title "WHAT IS DRY ROT?") This often happens to studs laid on the basement floor or standing up against basement walls. A perfectly dry basement will present no problem -- but how many ba...
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  How do you properly stand a stud wall up against a basement wall?

  When we are working with wood studs we generally build the wall on the floor and then lean it up to the wall. But in the basement we have all kinds of overhead obstructions, so if you just tip it up, you will probably find yourself blocked by pipes or ducts. The secret is like in the photo, to b...
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  Full height basement insulation? An animation explaining why the answer is YES.

  An animation on a CD that I produced with the Reader's Digest several years ago showed clearly why you should insulate the entire wall all the way down to the floor. No, you won't freeze anything outside, as the important footings are below the frost depth anyway and there is always some heat los...
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  The river is rising – preparing for a flood: OVERVIEW

  This article is about stopping water outside the house, then if necessary, controlling the situation as your basement floods.  For some very interesting water alarms, covering both plumbing and overland water,see Stopping Plumbing Floods.   SANDBAGGING The first line of defense is sandbaggin...
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  Detailing a Basement Wine Cellar

  John wants to cerate a wine cellar in his basement.  Here I have answered him throughly enough to perhaps help you detail your own cold room, whether it is under a concrete porch, or just built in the corner of the basement -- trying to deal with the questions of insulation, condensation, vapour ...
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  Vapour barriers in basements

  One of our viewers is about to insulate his basement and he has been told that he should not run the vapour barrier all the way to the floor. Fact or fiction? You should run the vapour barrier wherever there is insulation to keep the moisture on the warm side of the wall. And in a basement insta...
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  Insulating an old house and more.

  I don't often answer all the details of a long letter, especially not with the time constraints that we have on television. But Larry from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia wrote such a coherent detailed letter about the 80 years old very cold home that he just bought that I thought I would just wade in...