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How to Waterproof a Concrete Basement Floor

Basements are notoriously difficult to take care off. They often have poor ventilation and insulation, leading to condensation. Condensation is what creates damp and mould on your concrete. If you don’t catch it early on it’ll spread and ruin your floor! If you’re starting to notice any condensation it’s well worth thinking about waterproofing your concrete. Whether it’s old or new concrete, find out how to treat your floor.

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Give your surface proper protection

One of the main reasons many find their basements looking older much quicker than the rest of the building, is because they leave the surface untreated. If you don’t look after your flooring it won’t last very long. Even if you’re planning on laying down carpet, vinyl or another material – you need to shield the surface.

We suggest you use Coo-Var Damp Shield. This is a two-part epoxy resin coating designed to prevent moisture from rising and penetrating your concrete floor. Moisture can cause you serious issues in the future so this is an important step to waterproofing a basement floor.

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Get tanking

Another great way to waterproof your basement is to use a product which when mixed creates a slurry. This slurry mix can then be used to coat wall and floor surfaces. Sika Damp-proofing Slurry is low odour, easy to use and BBA approved. When mixed with water this coating can be directly applied to many surfaces – like your basement floor!

This product is designed for jobs such as tanking residential or commercial products. If you’re not an expert on basements, don’t worry – we are! Tanking means to install a barrier on your underground surfaces to keep ground water at bay and the inside dry. You can do this on your interior or from your exterior, as long as you are creating a barrier between your surface and the moisture.

We like this slurry solution because it’s extremely easy to use and really protects your basement floor from being penetrated by water.

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As we said, a basement can be tricky to manage, so your best solution is to make sure it’s protected at the time of installation. If you’re not fortunate enough to do so, make sure you regularly check for signs of condensation and use the right product.

If you’re not sure how to go about waterproofing your concrete basement store, drop us a message!

6 comments

  1. Hi we have a concrete summerhouse which we inherited that we want to make into a usable office space – having taken up the lino on the floor which was soaking we found concrete and no damp course or waterproof membrane. it smells of damp. what is the best solution to waterproof the floor – we are thinking of putting underfloor heating down aswell and then a laminate floor on top – is this going to work? We know we will need to insulate the walls and the ceiling aswell. It already has 2 double glazed windows but no ventilation vents. It has electricity and lighting installed.
    any advice would be appreciated.
    Many thanks
    Charlotte

    • Good afternoon Charlotte,

      The product you’d need to deal with the damp situation you are having with the concrete floor is Coo-Var Damp Shield. It will stop any damp problems coming through when you have the laminate flooring installed, too.

      Best regards.

      Mark

  2. Hi I need to seal a porous concrete parking bay and then need to cover it with a waterproof covering. Need something to withhold the weight of my car. Please recommend any of your products that can do the job.

    • Hi Paramjit,

      Thank you for your question. If you were planning on applying a coating and then putting something else over the top such as concrete slabs, we would recommend Remmers MB 2K.

      If that is not the case and it is to be a surface applied coating system then we would recommend Eagle Desmopol Waterproofing Roofing Kits 15 Year Guarantee and would also recommend the additional Anti-Slip Slate Grit be applied to provide a slip resistant surface – this would be suitable for a vehicle being parked on it.

      I hope this helps and please feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions.

      Many thanks
      Stuart

  3. Hi there. I came across this article because we are remediating for mold (a costly process!). We had to demo the kitchen floor (laminate tile) and we are having the concrete repoured, and then polished. To prevent further mold, do we have the contractor apply a damp sealer to the concrete mix? We are trying to avoid the waterproofing paint on top of concrete if possible. Thank you!

    • Hi Vanessa,

      Thank you very much for reading our blog and for your question.

      Unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to assist in this instance – we would advise speaking with the contractor who is applying the new screed for you in this case.

      Apologies we weren’t able to help this time, and thank you again.

      Many thanks
      Stuart

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