? Best product for a basement cement floor ?

[Eric]

My house is 10 years old. The basement floor is in good condition. The occasional hairline crack. To my knowledge, no water has come up through the floor (the perimeter is well drained and there is a sump pump in place). However, I do get some moisture that comes up through the floor ... I can't see it BUT as I lift rumber pads that are on the floor in the kids playroom, I do smell that basement/musty aroma!!!

There is grey cement floor paint in place. I am wondering if there is a product (paint, epoxy, ...??) that could be applied to minimize that natural moisture you get coming through cement?

Any insight would be great!

Cheers!

E.

Eric N. Leclair

[Goedjn]

Cement doesn't stop moisture, so while the cracks are part of the problem, sealing the cracks won't stop moisture infiltration. Once the slab has stopped shifting around and changing size (which is what's probably caused the cracks) you can grind out and patch the cracks, and then coat the entire floor with epoxy. That will PROBABLY prevent incidental groundwater from soaking through the concrete. It won't stop a rising water-table though. If water under pressure can't find a way through or around the slab, it will make one. Possibly violently. It will also not stop water from migrating down through whatever you're using as a floor-covering, and condensing on the cooler cement.

If you have the headroom to get away with it, and the money to spend, a wooden or partical-board subfloor with air circulating under it, (Outside air, dehumidified, heated, run under the floor, through a heat exchanger, and back outside) is your best solution. This will also solve any radon or other gas problems you might have. If you have ENOUGH headroom, you could go with rigid foam insulation, (sealed) covered with plastic vapor barrier (glued/welded) with a regular subfloor over that.

If you're lacking either the headroom or the money, then an epoxy coating, and a removable floor-treatment that you can take out and clean twice a year is probably your best bet.

[BobK207]

Unfortunately mositure barriers are best placed under the concrete,

plus you've already got paint in place. :(

I have used with great success the following product

Rustoleum High Performance Industrial DTM Epoxy Mastic

They call it mastic but its really a two part epoxy paint / activator paint system.

It goes on pretty thick; two coats needed to develop minimum suggested film thickness

It's avaliable in SoCal at Vista Paint

I suggest you read the surface prep section, moisture coming through the concrete is problematic for this product (as it is for most coatings)

In the Pools section they describe a moisture transmission test, I would recommend it.

cheers Bob

[mm]

Soon your kids will be older and they won't need rubber pads. Then you can take them up and you won't have the problem.

I"m not being sarcastic. Your problem doesn't sound that bad, especially if you only smell the smell when you lift these pads.