How can finish my basement?

Question

I have an unfinished bsmt. I want to finish it but don't know if I should do do drywall for my walls and what to look for before starting. I know that when it rains that the walls be wet and I'm assuming that's normal but there's a big stain on the one wall and I'm not sure if it's mold. So before finishing my bsmt what should I do first? And do you think that my dad and I will be able to do it ourselves? I also wanted dropped ceilings. Any advise???? Thanks Nina J

Oh my gosh, I didn't know that the stains can be this bad. The stains are high near the ceiling on the one wall which is the wall where my drive way is. And the other stains are by the steps which is facing my neighbors driveway. My house is only 4 yrs old. I always see wetness when it rains even a little and it's worst when it rains alot. I also see wetness on the gargae wall which faces my driveway too. The walls that I'm talking about are brick and I do see small cracks in the vrick. But someone at my job said that it's normal to see some wetness on the brick walls when it rains????

You guys are wonderful, thank you so much for all of the advice. I'm going to print out all the answers and go from there. It's snowing here in Pittsburgh, I hope that the problem won't get worst. Thanks guy!

Answer 1

First you have to take care of that leak. There can not be any moisture coming in to the basement before you drywall. Moisture will cause mold.

Answer 2

You obviously have drainage problems around your house that need attention BEFORE you go closing in any walls. Trapped moisture behind the walls will promote toxic mold & mildew growth. While it could be said that wet basement walls are normal in a home, it isn't supposed to be that way. It's just that there are a lot of wet basements out there.

The work will probably require digging away from the foundation walls all around the outside of the house, sealing up the walls & putting in proper drainage materials & pipes all around.
I know you said the house is only 4 years old, but in my area of the world, the houses are getting put up faster than the inspectors can keep up, & a lot of stuff is getting passed that shouldn't. Plus the codes are behind the newest technology that has been developed for keeping basements dry, so you'd be suprised what the builders are getting away with these days.
If you are covered under a warranty for your home, I'd go after the builder about a wet basement, because these repairs can get expensive.
So get your drainage seen to 1st before you go finishing your basement, it will be worth it in the long run.

Once you get the interior project going I highly recommend a T-Bar ceiling using 4x4 drop-in tiles. The main reason is there are so many things like plumbing, & electrical junction boxes that get burried behind drywall ceilings. I am a residential electrician, & I can't tell you how many times I have had to go cutting holes into finished basement ceilings looking for a junction box that got hidden behind drywall. If only they had used the T-Bar. I could come in, lift up a tile & look. That only takes me 10 minutes to find a junction box. The other way take several hours of labour hunting & guessing, plus the damage. Your choice.

Answer 3

If you have something that appears to be mold on your wall and if you have parts of the wall that will be wet, then those problems have to be solved before you do anything else.

I would have to know where the mold and wet spots are before I could answer any further on how to do things, but if they are under the ground level, you have a lot of work to do and unless you have a husband with huge arms and is willing to work, y ou have an immense expense awaiting you.

If the wet spots and the mold (and I will return to the mold in the next paragraph) are below the surface of the ground outside the house, you need to dig out your foundation, allow the wall to dry totally, and then go about water proofing. That can include many different items.

As for the mold, if it is a white hairy stuff, it may well be lime that is leeching out of the concrete blocks, or the cement, not all that uncommon.

If you have to dig out your foundation, y ou will have to dig down to the footing of the house and about 4-6 inches below it. That will show your foundation draining system and you will probably find out that the tubing that is down there is full of mud and is ineffective as a draining system. That has to be replaced if tht is the case. I have found in house after house that I have worked on that the foundation drain is put in wrong. If that is OK, then what you have to do, and you would need to do this anyway, is to pressure wash your foundation, allow it to dry, and then apply a thickish tar as a water proof material.

All of that is hard work andif done by some business, it will be extremely expensive. For my house, I had quotes of 20-40K$$, however I met a man who did things like that on larger structures who told me how to do it and spent less than $1000 by doing it myself.

Once you are sure that your foundation is moisture proof, mold proof, etc, then you can think about finishing out the basement. That is the fun part.

Answer 4

You cannot start your basement until the leak is taken care of. As others have said, check your gutter to see if clogged, if you don't have extensions channeling the water away from the foundation, get them and make sure they are at least 5' long. Next check the grade of how level your yard is on just outside of where the leak is. Do this with a level. If it slopes toward your house, bring in some dirt and fix it. You'll have to check the driveway slope as well. It could be channeling the water toward the house as well. if it is, the easiest fix would probably be to "mud jack" it our repour the concrete. Mud jacking is having a contractor drill holes into the slab and pushing in concrete at a high pressure which raises the slab to the desired height. It's generally cheaper than repouring but depends on the size of the slab. If that seems to work, paint the walls with dry-loc and wait for a couple of rains to be sure things worked. If you're dry, hit that basement and get it done. Good luck

Answer 5

The water usually comes in from the surface, not from underground...that's why you see the stain "up high". All the suggestions about gutters and slope are real good. Most water that gets into basements is because the water pools up right next to the house and can't drain away.
It's best to waterproof the outside of the foundation, and I'm surprised that you don't have a layer of foam insulation on the foundation wall from the bottom of the siding to at least a few feet underground, coated with a masonry product. But...building codes differ...
But if you have to dig it up to waterproof it, consider adding insulation then. It really pays off to insulate that concrete block that is exposed and for a few feet underground, and the foam will help seal out water, too.

Answer 6

If you have what you suspect to be mold, you need to call a home inspector that does mold. It does cost a lot of money (I'm a home inspector), but failure to get rid of mold will cause adverse health problems (but at least your basement will be pretty).

Whatever the source of water is, that needs to be addressed. Do you have a negative slope toward the foundation? That would need to be corrected.

Someone suggested using Drylock on your walls and that would be fine if the water is just seeping into the basement wall evenly. If it is coming from one area, Drylock won't work.

After your moisture problem has been solved, this is a project you can do yourselves. It is time consuming, but make sure you do your research so you can create an adequate plan and get enough building materials.

Answer 7

First you need to stop the water leak, Below is a search i did . you will find some answers here.
once you stop the leak you can deside how to finish it off. Drywall will require attaching strips of wood to the wall so you have a way of securing the sheetrock. You could also paint it using a spray gun.
Good luck and yes you two should do just fine. There are some good books at Home Depot and Lowes

Answer 8

inside walls should never be wet from rain. Find where the water is coming from and stop it. Probably as simple as extending the gutters out 6" from the house.

Answer 9

It is a pain to finish your basement if there are water problems. The worst feeling in the world is too finish it and then have to tear it all down. The first thing i would do if I were you and wanted to save money would be to check the gutters and if they are clogged. That is the cheapest and easiest first step to stopping water from entering your basement. Then you can ask your question again!

Answer 10

First you have to run a dehumidifier. Then you have to have it checked out every 1 year or so for mold. There are special sheet rock you can buy to use to make it looked finished. But you have to know, in a basement, there will be humidity. Buy mold recentest paint, and keep the dehumidifier running.