How To Handle Damp Concrete Floors?

Are you looking for ways to handle your damp concrete floors? Then check out these ways below. 

We usually think that the walls are the only building element vulnerable to humidity or damp issues. But in reality, the floors also can be affected by the moisture of your house. Your concert floors can easily suffer moisture ingress, which is also known as penetrating damp. Damps on concrete floors are more complicated to fix than fixing damp in the walls. 

The main reason is that concrete is a porous material, meaning water can rebel from capillaries and lead to causing damp floors in your property. There are easy steps that can be utilized if the concert floors are affected by moisture. To fix the issue, you will have to isolate the source of the moisture problem and then take the right steps-

Damp-Proof Floor Coating

Many damp-proof floor coatings are used directly on the concrete floor surface with a roller or brush. Preparation is the main thing for the layers, and the substrate should be dry and clean. The type of coating is chosen, depending on the usage of the floor. If the coating is not for your final decorative surface, then the coating can be applied afterward as a latex-based coating, for example - Drybase Liquid Applied DPM. Also, RFC is a suitable type of concrete floor paint to use as a floor coating. 

And as for the parts where the coating requires more traffic, a tough two-part epoxy coating like Drybase ECS Epoxy Floor Coating can be used. And for the areas where you need higher chemical resistance and limited use, Drybase ECS CR (Chemically Resistant) Epoxy Coating is a great choice. All of these coating solutions can be done efficiently and effectively by Extreme Industrial Coatings for a great price.

Fixing Damp-proof membrane 

Suppose your home is facing increasing damp, which can expand from the surface of the concrete. Then that will require a complicated procedure to fix. That is lighter than usual in new buildings as damp resistant layers are needed at the opening construction stage to stop the expanding damp. All the plastic membranes are used onto sand blinding before the placement of the concrete. If that damp proofing method is implemented correctly, then it will give you protection against groundwater rising damp up from your concretes. 

But sadly, it will not occur in old buildings where there was no damp-proof layer before for most of the time. Therefore, it means that those house floorings are vulnerable to dampness. Usually, the method to treat moisture in floors was the replacement of the whole floor. It was a very time-saving process, but it costs a lot to get rid of the issue. Now there are two simple methods to recreate damp proofing concrete floors, and it will be carried out without needing any replacement of the concert floors.

Plastic Damp Proof Membrane 

Alternatively, you can utilize a damp proof membrane on the peak of your concrete surface. That is a more comfortable and quicker way than using a damp-proof concrete coating. It's because of the fact the membrane could be utilized on the damp area, and there will be small surface preparation that requires to be done. It is essential to know that a variety of floors needs to be built on the membrane's peak.

Damp in Basement Concrete Floors

Basements mostly face flooding and dampness, so making the floor water-resistant is the best solution to correct this issue. 

Instead of one water-resistant solution, you can use a mixture of waterproofing treatments.   

A waterproofing design professional needs to test the basement and plan to treat the basement's dampness successfully. Basements and cellars undergo everything from water so that a cavity drain system can handle the entrance of moisture instead of a damp-resistant layer.  

A cavity drainage system would utilize the mixture of a cavity wall layer, outside of a drainage channel, a sink, and a force system. The waterproofing system operates by funneling the water off from the basement. 

How to Use Epoxy DPM

You must make your concrete surface before putting an epoxy membrane. When the floor surface is entirely washed and loose from those debris, coatings, and surface water, you can go on and paint over the liquid layer using a brush and nylon roller. Many coatings should be built up, as for between coats, allowing not lower than 12 hours but no higher than 48 hours is better. It is preferred that at least two coats are used and up to three coats, depending on the slab's moisture content. 

The product is placed on a concrete surface where there is no damp resistant layer, or a place where the harm may have given the damp resistant coating will not be sufficient. You should provide due consideration to the practicable presence of hydrostatic pressure and the outcome of creating a barrier layer. That barrier layer can result in force to make the water flow run elsewhere. 

Call-In A Professional to Treat the Damp

If you think your property or home has a problem with rising damp on the floors, then you have to confirm it with a professional diagnosis. You should hire a qualified damp contractor/specialist or any preservation company well experienced with the rising wet injection treatment. They will accept your task and carry out your treatment for the wet concrete floors. We suggest you look for a well-certified and qualified contractor to do those tasks for you. 

Your floor is essential for your house and its overall structure, making it even more of a highlighted thing in your property. You cannot ignore the rising of damp in your concrete flooring; you have to fix it as soon as possible. You may want to replace the whole flooring to get rid of the damp, but it will cost you more. So solving the damp issue of your concrete floor would be your best solution to live a tension-free life.

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