# Putting plastic around your house to keep the basement dry



## Jungle

It seems to work well enough raising the grade and laying about 4 feet of poly. There's been no water in the basement since. I've put some soil over the poly, any chance of anything growing there? Maybe river rocks? Right now the rain is sort of splattering the topsoil onto the house, so not working that well.
I've still got mould smell in the basement, but no leaks, i need to run the dehumidifier and heater down there every time it rains to try and kill off the mildue. I guess the humidity is coming through the concert wall that is since no finished outside above ground and the poly? Most people don't use eves droughts around here because of the ice in the winter.
I wonder if plastic plankton sheeting will keep the odour out of basement walls? I'm thinking it will make it harder to dry form the inside with the dehumidifier running. The basement is only 6 feet high, so i don't seem much point in finishing the floor and walls. I think better to just insulate the basement ceiling and keep the cold and odors out of the main house. I figure that typar sheeting just stapled to the joist then slide 5.5" insulation batts into the joists.

The neighbour has an excavation machine and saying he could dig  up around the foundation for $600. I wonder if it would be worth it? The house is already on a high point, not sure how the drain would be installed, i guess back into the basement then to the drain. I would put the plankton plastic on the from the out side but i'm am worried that nails or screws would just damage the old concert anyway. Any ideas?:2cents:


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## nealtw

If you can get the out side dug up for $600 and run a drain around and away from the house is the first thing and waterproof the foundation.
If you have freezing on the roof, that's a problem with the insulation and venting in the attic and usually fixable, so I would run a second non perferrated pipe around the house so you can put up evestroughs some day.
You can insulate the floor but you never put poly against the joists, you would want vent in the basement then it can dry out by itself, before you insulate the walls of the basement you have to solve the problems with water and then you would not insulate the floor unless you are conditioning it with air from the house.
Left long enough weed will grow right thru the poly and then it is a night mare to work with, and river rock collects leaves and such, I would put down 1/2 crushed about 1 1/2 deep.
Any moisture in the basement can be a problem for your new hardwood floor.


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## Jungle

The typar is suppose to let air flow but not moisture, that why i figure it would be best.

Most houses don't have the eaves droughts because if there is too much snow it will break and damage the house. I heard the neighbour he has latches on his and takes it off in the winter.

I guess digging around the basement and waterproofing is an idea, i'm thinking a lot of work. But how would the water get in if i cover the perimeter ground with 3 ft  of poly on a slop?


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## nealtw

The poly will prevent rain water or snow melt but dosn't do anything for water table. Lots of snow makes more sence.
 No one using snow gaards on the roofs in your area? I don't know how well they work.
House wrap is an air and wind stop and will allow vapour thru, so (maybe) but there should be no open holes in the floor (firestopping) you wouldn't need an airstop so just something open that would hold the insulation in place is the usuall.
Just to make sure we are taking about the same thing. Basement, concrete floor, access with stairs into the house, heat or cooled with the house?


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## bud16415

Grading and getting the water started away from the foundation is a good idea. People with gutters often solve a water issue with extending the pipes away from the foundation a few more feet. Old basements with field stones are almost impossible to make perfect and I have found most of the time they are fairly shallow and the water table isn&#8217;t as much of an issue as getting rain and snow melt away from the building. It may have been that they hand dug these basements around here and that was hard work so they used what they took out to build up the grade. My old house and new one were like this and if you really measured the basements are only 3 or 4 feet deep the rest is sticking up and filled from what they took out. 

Sounds like what you did helped so that&#8217;s a good thing for now. Plastic does have a way of breaking down and you may have to start over in a few years. Digging it all up is a pretty big job.


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## Jungle

It is 10mm poly i would hope it last longer than a few years. I've put some old wood and chip board around the edges now which is good compost. So i think i could put one more layer of poly then get a load of river rocks for$160 and cover the poly with all the rocks. It doesn't look so good right now.

The basement has been leaking for years because nobody did these simple fixes. I haven't seen any leaks since and it has rained hard a few times. I got the humidifier on all the time and take out a the little bit of dry rot in the wood joists that was starting due to years of high humidity.

I've gonna paint all the old wood now and then get on the plastic bubble sheathing for the walls, does this stuff really work for basement walls? I think i should put on the floor as well? Do you have to leave gaps to let air in? how does the air get to the concrete to dry it out? I guess the air will find a way.


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## nealtw

plastic bubble wrap, are talking about the stuff in your photo?


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## Jungle

Yes that stuff in the photo Platon.  I guess leave it open at top like a sofit for the basement.

I think put 5" batt of roxoul in the basement ceiling cover by Typar, then 8' platon that bends up onto the back on to the ceiling secure but a 2x4, screwed into the joists through the Platon plastic. Should keep it up against the basement walls.

I was thinking i should take a bleach solution and wash down the walls first! ug more work,,,


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## nealtw

Ussually when this plastic is installed on the inside is when water is expected to leak thru the wall and a trench is cut in the floor around next to the wall so water can run to a sump pump to be removed. Then the question is which is easier, taking up a foot of concrete around the basement and adding a sump and pump, or digging around the outside and adding the drain and waterproffing the foundation
The typar on the ceiling in the basement is not a good idea, it will let vapour thru but it will also trap water, any future roof leaks, plumbling leaks, or just spills in the home would create bigger problems.
When we remove rot even inside a house, inspectors and engineers want the area dressed with a copper based product that you just paint on the area to kill anything that might have been missed.


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