In article .com, MW says...

What a can of worms this is becoming. We are going to finish our 45-
yr-old basement, and so far, 6 contractors have 6 different ways of
dealing with our moisture problem.

All around the bottom-most foot or so of the cinder block walls of the
basement, the old paint (I assume its Drylok) is falling off and there
is efflouresence too. There is no damp or musty smell, but I know
it's humid down there. Even now, in the winter, it's 60% humidity.
We have never, in 3 1/2 years, had actual water come into the
basement, just this seeping moisture. We have heavy clay soils.

I am afraid what will happen when we put walls up. Everywhere I go,
there is contradicting information, from professionals everywhe
put up poly, don't put up poly, use wood studs, use steel studs, use
insulation, don't insulate, etc etc etc.....It's enough to drive me
batty.
I am determined to do this, but don't want to spend $30K just to have
to tear it all out in a few years due to mold/moisture. And digging
up around the outside of the foundation is too costly for us, probably
$60K.
The moisture-proofing contractor insists we'll be sorry if we don't
break through the basement floor all around the perimeter of the
basement and install french drains for the water to go from inside the
cinder block walls. This for $6500 on top of the cost of finishing
the basement. I may be misguided, but I don't feel comfortable
hacking into the foundation.

I have a similar system, installed by B-Dry for 11 years now; I'm extremely
happy with it. If you do it see if you can have it drain out to daylight by
gravity and not have a sump pump to worry about powering. As to "hacking into
the foundation", actually it's the slab that's "hacked into" (jackhammered) to
get the drain system in. The bottom blocks get holes for drainage and covering
directing any moisture to the trench. I'd be more comfortable with that than
excavating all around. There still can be some humidity through the walls, but
the water has a place to go, pressure is mitigated, and you won't get flooded.

Where do you live? A three and a half year window of time can easily miss
events large enough to get water into the basement.


This may be a really crazy idea, but has anyone invented a way of
drilling a hole in the lower cinder blocks, let all the water drain
out, and then filling in all the blocks' spaces with some kind of
filler/expanding stuff to keep the water pressure from filling them up
in the first place?

Don't try to stop water. It needs a place to go. If some contractor tells you
he can stop the water by some barrier without also channelling it somewhere, he
needs to be shown the door as he doesnt' know the first thing about building and
hydrology. That may narrow your field a bit.


So what should we do, Drylok + wood studs + drywall + dehumidifier?
Drylok+wood+poly+drywall?
I have also read mixed reviews on the mold-resistant drywall, should
we use that?
Help me, I am losing my mind because everywhere I go I get different
answers.


I have a 47 year old house with a block foundation in heavy clay soils in
upstate NY.

I have the BDry, and older cove system behind much of the finished area,
finished with wood studs offset + drywall offset from the bottom, finished with
simple dark stained mouldings. For at least 20 years (13 with me in the house)
and I had flooding before the BDry was put in. Use commercial-grade carpet
and/or vinyl on the floor. More problems than what you have, but still a
finished area in the basement. Nearly every 1960 track ranch house like mine on
my street has some or all the basement finished. So you should be able to do
this and enjoy the space too.

Forget the DryLock as far as stopping water. It can make a nice coating, though
if the water can go somewhere else.

Do you have neighbors with similar houses? See what they have done and how
happy they've been with their solutions. Same construction maybe, similar
soils. That would help you sort through the solutions.

Banty