Basement Reno


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Old 12-11-19, 09:32 PM
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Basement Reno

Hello, I'm in the planning stages of renovating the basement of our 1952 home. We recently had an interior perimeter drain tile and sump pump system installed to help mitigate water/moisture issues. Where the concrete slab was jack-hammered up and the tile drain installed has left us with about 12" width of thin concrete from the foundation wall. We also have Delta MS membrane fastened to the foundation wall and buried under the slab. My rough idea is to fix some kind of foam board insulation (still unsure what kind - XPS, EPS, etc.) over the Delta MS and to the concrete foundation wall. Then build a traditional stud wall (metal or wood?) up against the rigid foam board and fill stud cavities with mineral wool batts. Then determine the best type of wall board for my situation (as waterproof as possible). Now, given that doing this would place the bottom plate of the exterior stud walls right over the thin concrete which covers the drain tile, there's just no way to connect the bottom plate to the floor using nails or screws without cracking the concrete (the concrete is so thin in places that it sounds hollow when you knock on it). Would I be able to get away with fixing the bottom plate to the thin concrete using some type of adhesive? I do have one exterior door I'll need to frame around as well, so I'm worried about how adhesive would hold up over time.

I've also researched the furring strip method against the rigid foam board, but there are two problems I see with this for my situation:

1. How do you go about framing an exterior door using the furring grid method?
2. How do you deal with and correct concrete foundation walls that aren't plumb?

Any advise is greatly appreciated!
 
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Old 12-12-19, 01:02 AM
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Basement walls do not require an extensive number of sill plate attachments since they are tied into the ceiling joists.

My basement walls are glued to the floor with a tapcon every 3'-4'.

If you can't go to the floor you could make some 2x4 ties that attach at the bottom and go back to the walls!
 
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Old 12-12-19, 03:45 AM
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Hi Allen, from your post you are addressing liquid moisture which is only half of the problem. Moisture vapor passes through concrete like a screen door, I'm exaggerating but there was no part of a 52 home that attempted to produce a dry basement. And there is little you can do now to fix what they missed. Whatever the moisture level is in the soil outside will 24/7 be trying to equalize with the inside. Once you block its ability to dry to the air it will accumulate until equal. In a Nevada desert that wouldn't be bad.

I won't beat you up but will add some reading.
https://www.buildingscience.com/docu...ts?full_view=1

Bud
 
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Old 12-16-19, 09:49 AM
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Thanks!

Thanks Bud! I’ve been on the Building Science Website a bunch and appreciate the link to the article.

I should mention That the basement was semi finished, per the inspector, most likely in the 1960s. They had put the framing and wood paneling right up against the exterior concrete walls and slab. The good news it that the only part of any of the framing and paneling that appeared impacted by moisture were the pieces in contact with the slab. None of the drywall (which is only at the ceiling in the garage) looks impacted at all. I should also note that I’ve been monitoring the humidity in the basement since July and it’s never gotten above 55%. The previous water intrusion was happening at the cold joint in one spot of the garage before we had the interior perimeter drain tile system put in. No signs of bulk water otherwise. Moisture vapor is another story, obviously.

Any more advise on moving forward? I’m now considering framing the walls out about 10” from the exterior walls, which will be covered with the Delta MS dimple mat and 2” of EPS. This will give me enough room to clear the thin concrete covering the drain tile system.

Lastly, there is about 2ft+ of the concrete foundation wall exposed to the exterior for drying...

Any input is greatly appreciated!
 
 

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