As with anything, the foundation of a house is extremely important. Protecting the foundation and footing of a house is equally as important. It’s common practice to coat the outer foundation walls with some sort of tar or rubberized substance in an effort to form a membrane to keep water out of the foundation walls and in turn the crawlspace or basement. Although this meets code in most areas it has a couple of problems that can cause issues for homeowners.
Often the footing is neglected when this is done. Hyrdrostatic pressure can push water up from under the footing into the crawlspace or basement. This is because there isn’t a membrane under the footing and bonded with the membrane on the foundation. In a crawlspace the water can seep in from around the footing or through the foundation walls because or poor or damaged waterproofing membranes.
Thankfully there are products and practices to use that can greatly mitigate the threat of water penetrating the foundation of your home. Peel and stick membranes like Visqueen or LeadBarrier are thick and applied in a shingle like manner to drain away any water that makes it to the wall. Additionally, something as simple as placing a thick plastic sheet down and pouring the footing on top of it creates a waterproof pocket to adhere the membrane to. There is an additional cost to the construction but it’s relatively small compared to repairing the damage that can be caused by not doing it.
Posted November 2, 2022