Dirt Basement Floor Vapor Barrier

Cover a dirt basement floor with a vapor barrier.

Dirt basement floor vapor barrier. Lay the sheets in rows across the dirt floor. Use option a to keep your floor dry if you have damp floors in your basement. During the pre sale home inspection the inspector told me i ought to invest in some plastic sheeting or tarps and lay them over the dirt floor and also the stone walls of the basement to help keep moisture at bay. Overlap the bottom of the walls with two inches of the sheet edges raised upward along the wall s surface.

For a dry mold free finished basement floor always install a vapor barrier before laying a wood subfloor or. No need to bother with large fold out low quality off spec construction grade films which can be bothersome and hard to use before the floor is installed. Retrofoam of michigan has been insulating crawl spaces with foam insulation for more than 15 years. To keep your basement floor from being invaded by insects and moisture a vapor barrier must be installed.

The concrete is not totally impermeable and allows moisture to slowly migrate from below to the air or drain away. Installing a vapor barrier over a dirt floor basement is an instant way to block moisture and insects from entering the basement space. A vapor barrier will help keep the levels of moisture down in the basement which can either compromise the home s foundation or increase the humidity level in the basement. They are usually made from foil or plastic sheeting that is resistant to the diffusion of moisture through walls and floor structures thus they will not compromise the foundation of your home or create more humidity on your the floor.

Waterproofing a basement with dirt walls and floors is very similar without the jackhammering. Cover the dirt floor with a layer of 10 mil plastic sheeting to serve as a vapor barrier which will keep moisture from seeping through the dirt and onto your wood floor. However we also very strongly recommend installing a plastic vapor barrier on the walls and floors as moisture can easily pass through the dirt and create a humid space. Installing an impermeable vapor barrier on a below grade dirt floor may be less effective in reducing moisture than the traditional concrete over gravel surface.

We ll still install a drain and sump pump along the perimeter. As to the original basement issue let me suggest the following. One of those steps is a crawl space vapor barrier especially if you have a dirt floor. Step 1 install vapor barrier.

Your crawl space is a dark dank space that can be a breeding ground for mold and mildew if the proper steps aren t taken. Most of today s new homes have poured concrete basement floors but many houses built before 1950 still have unfinished dirt floors. When we insulate the walls of the crawl space we lay down plastic over the dirt. Option b is sufficient if your floor is generally dry except for small amounts of moisture evaporating through the slab.

Our moistureblock is a 6 mil polyethylene film vapor barrier that is used during the installation process with floating laminate luxury vinyl planks and engineered wood floors.