Damp basement – what to do?

Blooms, mold in the corners, chipped plaster – basement rooms look something like this, when the ubiquitous water makes its way through walls and floors , pushed into the interior. We show you, which paths these are and how you can effectively block them off.

SEALING FROM THE OUTSIDE IS ALWAYS BETTER.

The following applies in principle to damp cellars, that sealing from the inside is only the second-best solution.
It's appropriate there, where repairing the external sealing is not possible or only possible with difficulty. A seal from the inside always works, that the moisture can continue to penetrate the masonry and sometimes damage it, while with an external seal, the water is kept completely out of the masonry. So it would be ideal, to completely expose the damp basement wall, to renew the thick bituminous coating, to protect against mechanical damage with bubble wrap and to lay a drainage. To install a missing horizontal barrier in the wall, you don't have to dig up the basement wall – it works just as well from the inside.

Water finds its way: In no other area of ​​a house can you observe this wisdom as often and as well as in the basement. Because water is almost omnipresent in the surrounding soil, whether as groundwater that is permanently present on the basement walls or as rainwater that seeps away or runs off. The water always finds its way into your basement, where walls and floor slabs are not or poorly sealed from the outside. A tiny crack or hole is often enough, to moisten the masonry in the medium term and allow mildew and mildew to thrive on the inside. Subsequent sealing is therefore announced, Do you want to use your basement rooms in a dry and clean condition?. If you are not sure, where your water comes from, you could try it first of all with better ventilation of the room through additional windows or ventilation flaps. In fact, some of the supposed water damage is simply precipitation from condensation, that is not led outside.

To the building materials, that you can use to redecorate your basement, very special demands are made. For almost all muds, Mortars and plasters are a mixture of cement and sand, to which various plastics and dispersions have been added for tempering. Only through these additives (Additive) normal mortar becomes a highly flexible one, waterproof and chemical resistant sealant.

Most manufacturers offer their products in a precisely coordinated system. You should therefore always use the products of one supplier for a renovation and never mix components from different systems with each other. Some manufacturers also offer free, non-binding on-site advice, where all relevant questions are clarified in advance. You can get the material itself, including the service questionnaire, at the hardware store.