Basement waterproofing
rhl_
| Posted in General Questions on
In this link they polyethylene is above the rigid foam:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/fixing-a-wet-basement
this doesn’t make sense to me. I get that the EPS/XPS foam that is typically used is waterproof, but if your doing floor heat wouldn’t you want it the other way? I wouldn’t the staples for the the floor heat defeat the vapor barrier?
Also somewhere was a version of this article with more details on how to build this. Any pointers to that?
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Replies
Ryan,
Your question is unclear. Are you talking about a slab or a wall? If you are talking about a slab, you might want to read this article: "Polyethylene Under Concrete Slabs."
Unlike an air barrier, a vapor barrier can have holes in it without significantly reducing its effectiveness as a vapor barrier. If a vapor barrier consists of 96% membrane and 4% holes, it is still 96% as effective as a membrane with no holes.
Sorry I meant under the floor slab.
Ryan,
Did you read the article I linked to? This one: "Polyethylene Under Concrete Slabs."
I just started — apologies. Edited my response
Perhaps these were the plans I was mentioning? The link is now broken.
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/detail-library/building-plans-for-energy-efficient-basement-remodeling
Ryan,
I think you meant to copy this link:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/cad/detail/building-plans-for-energy-efficient-basement-remodeling
Aha, the link on the article needs to be updated..
One last question:
Would there be any problems if when in addition to the build described one added:
Schluter Bekotec above the Polyethylene for laying out floor heat pipes? This is essentially R-2 of EPS foam.
So the layout from top to bottom of the basement floor would be:
Concrete slab
Pipes and bekotec or equivalent
Polytheline vapor barrier
R-20 of Rigid Foam (EPS or XPS)
4” 3/4” clean washed stone
Mother nature
https://www.schluter.com/schluter-us/en_US/Modular-Screed-Systems/Schluter%C2%AE-BEKOTEC/p/BEKOTEC