Im putting up drywall in my basement. Two of my walls are exterior walls and my studs are about 6 inches from the wall. Should I put up plastic as a moisture barrier before putting up the drywall. Im not installing any type of insulation. Thanks John
I would not go that route as you can get condensation between the below-grade wall and plastic sheet that will get moldy. If you want to seal up the walls properly, clean them up real good and give them 2 heavy coats of DryLoc brand waterproof paint (the latex version is fine) (have cans well shaken as this stuff has a solid component that settles). Then do your framing.
I meant DryLoc'ing the concrete foundation walls before framing, (not Dryloc'ing the drywall).
Thanks for the help. John
I don't know where you live, but why not put in some insulation while you're at it? You have plenty of space, now's the time. I put up a similar wall in one corner basement room I have, partly to be able to put insulation in the walls, and it made quite a difference.
John,
If you are going to install a plastic moisture barrier, you would want it against the concrete wall, not behind the drywall. The idea is to keep moisture out of the wall, not trap moisture in the wall.
I'm assuming, of course, your basement walls do not leak any. If that's the case, you'll probably need some kind of perimeter drain and a sump pump.
As another poster mentioned, a paintable membrane like Drylok might be a better option for a foundation wall than the plastic sheet.
Anthony
Even a plastic sheet directly over the concrete wall will form condensation between sheet and wall and eventually smell moldy. Whereas the DryLoc soaks in about an 1/8 inch or so and prevents any moisture in the interior without condensation gap issues. Gives basements a nice clean smell as long as you have HVAC return and supply ducts to the space to reduce the air density and humidity levels typical for basements. The best place for any membrane though is outside the wall underground befor backfilling.
Good point!
Yep, that was my thinking too, but I didn't get the impression that was an option in this case.
Anthony
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