Author Topic: Will concrete foundation help with moisture issues?  (Read 1379 times)

MichelleD1977

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Will concrete foundation help with moisture issues?
« on: August 09, 2015, 06:15:21 AM »
We purchased our house 12 years ago with a mudroom which was kind of shoddily built, and has no foundation.  This part of the house is near a very damp area of our yard up against the woods. It has always been very damp in the mudroom, and over the past 3 years it's gotten worse as we had some drainage problems around the house, which lead to more water being in the area near the mudroom.  We are starting to take care of this problem, improving the drainage, replacing a window, and probably either replacing the carpet or I am thinking even pulling up the floor and pouring a cement foundation. 

Two questions:

Do you think having a foundation will help with the dampness issues inside the mudroom?

How hard is it to pour your own foundation?

Can you then finish off the top of the cement and paint it for a cool looking cement floor, or do you need to put a different kind of cement on top for the nice cement floors I've seen around? It seems easier upkeep to have a cement floor in the mudroom vs. carpeted floor

Would this be cost efficient or not? I am only starting to dive into the joys of home renovation and have no idea how much a concrete floor would cost.  It's a maybe a 10X20 foot space, but we'd probably need to pour at least 1.5 feet to raise the floor up to the level it is now.

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Re: Will concrete foundation help with moisture issues?
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2015, 10:29:32 AM »
(Not a builder.  Take my advice at your own risk).

By "no foundation" do you mean "pier and beam foundation"?

I would think that getting the drainage fixed would actually fix the problem.  If it's pier and beam, you may also need some sort of ventilation under there (if you don't have it already).

Concrete isn't a bad idea.  But it does wick moisture.  I don't think it will be "the solution".

Can it be done yourself?  Yes.  But it is a bit of work -- and it is very unforgiving and needs to be done in an extremely timely manner.  If the concrete truck can't just back right up to a door/window into this room, you'll have to hump it in wheel barrows very quickly while someone else works it level.  If you want a really nice finish on it (as opposed to it being the subfloor) -- I might consider contracting it out.  I'm very pro DIY.  But I'm not sure I would do it myself.

Can it be finished into a nice concrete floor?  Yes.  Our entire downstairs is finished concrete.  It has an old "worn leather" look to it.

As to the 1.5ft rise...   I'd fill it in with something very non-compressible first.  In other words, pack in sand to take up most of that space, THEN pour concrete over it.  Sand is much more cost effective!

 

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