insulating a basement

[DREW]

I bought a old 1920 house with radiator heat and the basement is very cold in Minnesota. I want to put up drywall but the cement bricks leak a little bit in the spring. I found a product called "dry lock' but it can only be used for unpainted brick to seal the pores. The previous owners painted the walls and the floors so I can't go that route. My question is this, how do you insulate the walls without worrying about mold and possible water damage to the dry wall. Any suggestions. I have to do this before she lets me build fish racks and such :'(

Thanks
Drew

Drew,
Didn't we meet at one of the Discus meetings?
I have a very old house (100+) and have the stone walls. I chose not to insulate because of the water in the spring. Instead I insulated the tanks, and just where the trusses attach to the foundation. From what I have learned from the Hubby (works for a local builder), there is no way around it. You will risk a mold problem and your concerns will then be of something greater than the cold. Good luck in which ever you decide.

Julz :)

[DREW]

Hi Julz,
I haven't been to a meeting yet but I plan to go in Feb. I just got back in the hobby after a decade vacation from it. Somuch to learn. My first fish are coming from Cary and I can't wait. 2 6" red melons. I'll have to figure something out down there because the winter temp is around 58 degrees in the basement. Maybe I just throw some vinyl flooring,paint the walls and use some kind of electric heaters for the temp. I wanted the basement to look nice but its tough in those old houses. A good place for racks though ;D

Take care

Drew

ooo lucky you, Cary has great fish. I have 6 of his Gold Marlboro's... They are sure beauties.

Yeah you are correct. That is why I converted mine. Guess I'm lucky the heat is forced air and the furnace is smack dab in the middle of the orchid nursery and the fish area. Luckly it warms up when the furnace is on. The insulation (near the rafters) helped a great deal. You might want to try the electric space heaters that look like radiators (oil filled) they put out great heat....

See ya at Pauls... Will be great fun. :)

[midnight1]

drew - a few suggestions

#1 - find out what causes the water. (dry-loc wouldn't fix the problem and might create a new one - water build up inside of your basement wall)

a few possibilities/solutions :

poor grading at exterior walls - add more topsoil at base of walls to create a better/greater pitch away from the house

to much water drained to near the house - add downspout extensions to get the roof water farther away from the house.

i don't believe unsettled backfill (to large of pores which encourages water to travel towards your basement) is your problem anymore since the age of the house.

basements of any kind don't need to leak - there is always a fix. my house has a brick foundation (not block) built in 1906 - never leaks a drop ( i live in milwaukee, wi ). my in-laws basement built pre 1900 has a rubble foundation (stone) also in milwaukee never leaks a drop. we both have frost and rain and snow.

after you solve that problem i would build full 2x4 walls about 1/2" off of your basement wall (to allow air circulation behind the wall to help alleviate any moisture/mould build up) and then insulate the wall with insulation add a 3 mil poly vapor barrier on the warm side of the wall and then use drywall as usual. use a preassure treated 2x4 bottom plate on the concrete.

depending on what you want to do you might be able to take a feed line off of your boiler and add a radiator off of it and use that to heat the area of the basement where your tanks are going - most boilers can handle more house than they are taking care off but i'm not a boiler expert - unfortunately ( i use boilers now strictly for radient floor heat in ceramic tile areas and future basement finish outs)

good luck

paul

[Denny]

hi drew



i agree with what paul said and also with his remedies. i also had water problems in my basement from the walls and also the water table is high here and i would actually get water coming up through the cracks in the floor. the most i had standing at one time is 2"

to combat that i had a backhoe dig out my foundation, while the pressure was off the walls i braced them with 6x6's and used a hydraulic jack to push them back into place as they were bowed in a bit. then i put a tile around the footing, poly around the foundation and backfilled with pearock. then i topped it off with fresh black dirt sloping away from the house and added gutters. on the inside i cut a trench around the perimeter and dropped in a drain tile, filled with pearock and ran it into a sump. to finish it i built walls between the 6x6's, insulate, poly and sheetrock. the pump ran for 2 months as i think it had to lower the water table of the town lol but has only ran a few times a year since.now i have carpet on the floor

i think the gutters and backfill will do the most good imo

if you have no radiators where the tank area is, that would really take the strain off the heaters imo

denny

cya at pauls

Ya know Paul I have to agree with you.

We found the root of our trouble and it turned out to be that there are no gutters on that side of the house. Installing them would almost be impossible because of the dormers, so we hoped to build a wrap around porch but the city nixed our permit plea. Long story believe me. :-\ Luckily we live on a hill so the water in the spring in minimal.

Julz :)

[DREW]

Those were some pretty complete responses, thanks. The lot is very small in this area and the room between houses is not much. The one corner where it leaks the house next door is on a hill so all their snow melt flows into my property. :-[ I'll look into building up some dirt there and try to flow the water into the street area. It doesn't look like it leaks bad but enough to cause mold problems and I don't like messing around with mold. I guess I'll see how bad it leaks in the spring. If I make it too nice down there she might want it for herself ;D Thanks you gave some good ideas.

Drew

[Denny]

andrew

there is another option that, while more expensive, may have merit if you plan to stay there for a while.

there are companies in the metro area that can come in and spray foam insulation on your basement walls and joist pockets. this stuff resembles foam in a can and really does a great job of insulating with it you could fir out the walls , spray and then finish or just spray and leave.

it may not be good for fish until it cures but you can heat it with a candle lol. then there may be a need for a vent fan or dehumidifier

denny

[kimmy]

Hi there,

I hate to say it, but a major problem needs a major solution. My mother had drain tiles installed around the perimeter of the basement. They came in and jack-hammered the perimeter installed the tiles and a sump pump. She has had the place for twenty some years and every year had H2O running thorough the basement. For the past three years it has been bone dry, and if I am correct you also live in MN. This year has been one of the wettest summers on record. I have had rivers this summer in the basement and hers is dry.


HTH
kimmy

[kimmy]

And her house is WELL over 110 years old.

[RandalB]

Julz,
You know darn well your water problems come from messing with your R/O system. ::)

RandalB

[Denny]

say it like it is randal ;D McGuyver strikes again lol.

btw i got the adapter today and i am in the process of a water change so i can fire up the booster pump.

also thanks for the bonus package ;D it was a suprise, but you need not bribe me, i have already been passing your name around.

denny

Hmmmm Kimmy?

Are you who I think you are? ;) lol......

Unless this is one heck of a coincidence that drain tile story sounds too familiar, like wise with the nick!. Either way WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME.. :wave:

Oh, and if you are who I think you are. Its about time you fill those tanks, neighbor!

lmao

Julz ;D

oh and...
Randal! to your corner! http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/u/cop.gif

[jeep]

A friend has the same problem. He installed a wood burning stove in the basement and with the rising heat, it pretty much keeps the entire house very warm.

That's no fix for the water problem, but it sure is a lower cost alternative for heating...

[JESABELL]

You could try adding vents before building a stud partition wall. filled with polystirene insulation sheets and finished off with a renovating plaster board, then add a radiator to suit the room size. I would also try the guttering, as they say where there is a will there is a way. Hope all turns out for the best