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kimhoj_gw

Water Seepage Basement Floor- Interior or Exterior Drain??

kimhoj
10 years ago

I posted an earlier question regarding my basement problems and Worthy and fellow contributors did an AWESOME job answering the questions so a BIG THANK YOU!!

I was almost 100% prepared to proceed with an exterior drain system and then I noticed that there was mold and water underneath the temporary carpet tiles I placed down on the concrete floor- these carpet tiles have a rubberized backing.

The odd thing was that not all the carpet tiles were affected and the ones affected were not close to the exterior walls that typically have the leakage problems.

The carpet tiles affected seem to be located in the lowest part of the basement floor (the floor is not level- some parts are lower than others).

So my questions are:

1. How can I tell where the moisture is coming from? Condensation from the high humidity in the basement air versus water seepage through the basement floor?

I have a dehumidifier in the basement so if I run this and the problem still occurs, then should I assume there is still water seepage through the floor?

Can I do the "plastic on the concrete" test and see if there is moisture accumulation underneath the plastic? Would this help determine if there is water seepage problems through the concrete floor?

2. IF THERE IS A WATER SEEPAGE PROBLEM THROUGH THE FLOOR, which system BEST deals with this problem? An Exterior or Interior System? From the "original basement waterproofing handbook" the author suggested that an exterior system CANNOT deal with water seepage through the floor and only an Interior system can only deal with this.

IS this true and Why? If not true, can an exterior drain system prevent water seepage through the basement floor?

Thanks for this awesome forum!!

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