Common Basement Remodeling MISTAKES | What NOT to Do!

[@ASIRIDesigns]

*A Design Guide To Dry & Comfortable Basements eBook* : asiri-designs.com/shop/ols/products/basement-design-guide

[@MrRustyjackson]

I am so glad I found your channel and am grateful for the knowledge you share. I purchased your design guide. What a wealth of knowledge it is. Do many/all of the exterior waterproofing strategies still apply to a home to be built in sandy soil? I am soon to break ground on a 1800 sq ft home on lake front property in northern Wisconsin.

[@howardsimpson489]

Years ago I dug a basement workshop under my house. We discovered a spring in the floor so had a bad moisture problem. I used a Russian technique, no-fines concrete. This is concrete with no sand, just the other aggregates in the mix. It was very noisy in the mixer but handled easily. Commercial perforated pipes were led to a low point which then gravity fed to an even lower place outside. This no-fines was a happy load bearing layer which had to be signed off by my father, a registered engineer. The floor had 2 inches of ordinary well finished concrete on top.The tilt slab walls were ordinary concrete with 3 inches of no-fines on the outside. No vapor barrier anywhere. 45 years later, after several real earthquakes, extreme weather with 100 year rainfall, the house is still bone dry top and bottom, no rot or mold and nothing has shifted. The spring eventually dried up.

[@DitDitDitDahDahDahDitDitDit]

Your diagram of an interior French drain line shows a gravel layer underneath the perforated drainage pipe, which is then covered by more gravel. I saw that same diagram in a relevant ASTM document as I researched best practices for renovating the drainage in my older home many years ago. I gave a copy of that ASTM guide to the contractor I hired who just ignored it. If there is significant benefit in having a layer of gravel underneath the drainage pipe, perhaps the reasons for that would be worth a conceptual explanation that people can grasp. Likewise for better explanations for the best types of materials that should be used as drainage pipes. I did make him put an adherent bituthene membrane under the dimple mat on the exterior. However, on the outside as in the interior French drain, he likewise declined to put the perforated drainage pipe on top of a layer of gravel. This example shows why we need regulatory bodies, rules, regulations, and mandatory inspections.

[@chameleonh]

I've seen french drains put in with pipe on the very bottom. Maybe the gravel below the pipe is supposed to accumulate sediment and make the pipe last longer? But then the whole gravel and pipe should be covered by some nice non-woven fabric to prevent sediment accumulation entirely. Maybe gravel below the pipe is just for pipe leveling, to make sure it slopes down at ~2% towards the sump pump. Not certified, just guessing.

[@FrankfurtCowboy]

Placing gravel below a perforated pipe serves several crucial purposes: 1. **Improves Drainage**: Gravel provides a porous layer that facilitates the movement of water into the perforated pipe. This ensures efficient collection and redirection of water away from the area. 2. **Prevents Pipe Clogging**: Gravel acts as a filter, trapping larger particles and debris before they can enter the perforated pipe. This helps to prevent blockages and maintain the functionality of the drain. 3. **Distributes Water Evenly**: The gravel bed helps to evenly distribute the water around the pipe, ensuring that water enters the pipe from all sides and not just from a single point. 4. **Structural Support**: Gravel provides a stable foundation for the perforated pipe, preventing it from shifting or collapsing under the weight of the soil above. 5. **Longevity of the System**: By preventing soil particles from clogging the pipe and ensuring smooth water flow, the gravel layer helps to extend the lifespan of the French drain system. 6. **Reduces Soil Erosion**: The gravel helps to mitigate soil erosion by slowing down the flow of water before it enters the pipe, which protects the surrounding landscape from washouts and destabilization. Overall, the gravel bed is essential for the effectiveness and durability of the drainage system.

[@Fromer23]

We needs regulations because you were incapable of specifying what you wanted? Why didn’t you make the regulations for your house be to do it the way you specified? Why do you need the state to come into my house too?

[@Senthiuz]

Most people don't build their own house. Without regulations and codes you can be reasonably sure that, even though your house was built by the cheapest assholes in a 100 mile radius, it's not going to fall over, burn down, or leak like the Exxon Valdez. Everyone having to determine their own building standards would be utter chaos, unsafe, and a huge waste of everyone's time.

[@Fromer23]

@@Senthiuz Imagine believing the world was a safe, non-chaotic, efficient machine because some dork wrote some stuff. Guess what? Regulations are the waste of time. I’m standing in a new build right now that is a testament to that fact.

[@snowgorilla9789]

Thank you from a future client

[@awesomcam09]

Am I making a future mistake? I am in a newly finished house as of last month, eager to start on finishing the basement. There is a layer of insulation already attached to the walls that looks like yellow fiberglass and is held against the wall with some white netting material and concrete nails top bottom and middle every so often. I want to take this down and stuff it in the joists for ceiling insulation and replace it with pink rigid foam or spray foam insulation. Or rigid + rockwool. Will this be a sound strategy or a headache down the line?

[@RatedCfm-cz8ff]

Applying a coating of closed cell spray foam to the inside of the foundation inside is likely the best solution, whereas simply taping polystyrene boards against the inside of the foundation wall, will trap condensation between the board & foundation wall during cold winter months. There isn't really an effective way to seal the polystyrene boards properly, unless one can find a suitable adhesive, & basically coat an entire side of the board before setting it in place against the foundation wall.

[@noleftturnunstoned]

I think it was discussed that the humidity of the surrounding soil is higher than the air within the basement. Thus, moisture migrates into the basement.

[@RatedCfm-cz8ff]

@noleftturnunstoned Yes, except in cold climate regions, humidity in the air within the structure causes frost to form on the interior surface of the concrete during winter. If you can't seal it with something like closed cell spray foam, then don't put anything thing against the inside of the foundation wall that will trap frost & moisture. It will start to emit a strong mildew odor, after a couple years.

[@noleftturnunstoned]

@RatedCfm-cz8ff How far north? Cold climates are typically dry, and the soil temp is higher than air temp. I have never seen what you are describing.

[@RatedCfm-cz8ff]

@noleftturnunstoned Canada, the ground literally freezes a yard, down to five feet from the ground surface. It is dry, but the cold concrete walls, not unlike windows, will build up frost, from what little moisture is generated within the stuctur, particularly if the basement is developed. For a number of years, late 70s to late 90s, building code required a layer of poly vapor barrier against the concrete if insulated walls were built. That was removed from the building code years later, because it was discovered frost built up during the cold winter months would melt in the spring, and moisture would be trapped almost indefinitely between the poly , and the concrete wall. It was also common for this condition to cause a very strong musty, mould odor.

[@RatedCfm-cz8ff]

@noleftturnunstoned Canada, and most northern states. The air does become dry in the winter months, however what moisture there is within the structure, from cooking, showering, clothes washer, breathing occupants, will condense against the concrete foundation walls. The same way frost forms on the inside of windows while curtains are closed, the ground will typically freeze four-five feet below the ground surface, so any concrete foundation walls, that have an insulated wall built over them, will get covered in frost. Something like Styrofoam board, or a sheet of poly up against the concrete will trap that moisture from the frost, and hold it there almost indefinitely, which eventually creates a mildew, mold odor throughout the home.