Type of baseboard for damp basement?

[mecese83]

Best if the panel tilts down towards the wall in that case so that condensation on the wall doesn't run towards it. It might be worth it to lift the inner floor and then have tar paper, on which you place supporting joists and floorboards.

Can mold grow between, for example, tar paper and concrete/cement?

Wood in a humid environment with heat will likely become moldy regardless of distance. Therefore, the moisture must be continuously removed.

The floors should be OK. They were torn out from the beginning and replaced with tiles. But it's a bit difficult to change under the walls. I assume that's why the moisture is only there...

 

[krillek]

I used tiles as a baseboard in a basement with the same problem as you.

 

[cecar33]

Very strange reasoning, why would the moisture only be under the walls? If that were the case, there's something wrong with the drainage; it's rare for the actual drainage pipes to be clogged, but it's often just above where it becomes dense over the years from the finest particles in the soil. Then you get moisture penetration a bit above the floor on the wall, and it travels both upward and downward. You say there's nothing wrong with the drainage, but do you know when it was done? Sure, you can flush the pipes and they might be OK, but as mentioned, it's above that it usually gets clogged. But to ensure the floor can be ventilated, you can use some type of "Platonmatta"; there are several variants of these, and you allow it to fold up onto the wall so that air can flow unobstructed under the entire floor and behind the baseboard. But as previously mentioned, check how things look in the ground above the drainage.

 

[mecese83]

The drainage is 15 years old. Moisture is on all the walls, even the interior walls right under the house, could poor drainage be the cause of this?

 

[AndersS]

The drainage is 15 years old. The moisture is on all the walls, including interior walls right under the house, can poor drainage be the cause of this?

It could be a combination of occasionally high water levels and perhaps not a properly installed drainage. In some houses, a sump pump with automatic controls has been installed to maintain the water level so that it does not dampen the foundation/floor and walls.

 

[oceanis]

Very strange reasoning, why would the moisture only be under the walls? If that were the case, there is a problem with the drainage. It's rarely the drainage pipes themselves that are clogged, but it's usually just above where it tightens over the years with the finest particles from the soil. You then get moisture penetration a bit above the floor on the wall, and it moves both upwards and downwards. You say there's nothing wrong with the drainage, but do you know when it was done because sure you can flush the pipes and they're OK, but as I said, it's above where it usually gets tight. To ensure the floor can be ventilated, you can use some type of "Platonmatta," there are several variations of these and allow it to fold up onto the wall so that air can circulate freely under the entire floor and behind the baseboard. But as previously mentioned, check how it looks in the soil above the drainage.

No, it's not a strange reasoning at all! There doesn't have to be anything wrong with the drainage for there to be moisture in the wall and slab.

A drainage can only handle free water in liquid phase. A drainage does not handle capillary-transported water or water in vapor phase. Drainage handles water that falls downward due to gravity or water that is already free in liquid phase, such as groundwater. Note that the transport of groundwater (lowering the level) occurs locally around the pipes and does not extend under a slab, for example. If you have such problems, multiple pipes need to be placed under the construction, and the construction itself must be isolated with a capillary-breaking layer.

It is very common, especially in slightly older houses, for the foundation to stand directly on clay without any capillary-breaking layer in between. Similarly, the floor can lie on very limited amounts of capillary-breaking material. It is more unusual to have drainage right under the house.

Therefore, it is very likely and not uncommon to get moisture transported capillarily in the soil up towards the foundation and walls as well as the floor, despite having new and functioning drainage.

 

[oceanis]

The drainage is 15 years old. The moisture is on all the walls, even interior walls in the middle of the house, can poor drainage be the cause of that?

See my answer to "cecar33"

I believe it is simply moisture that is transported capillarily and possibly in combination with a high groundwater level. You don't solve this by fixing more with the drainage; instead, you will likely have to live with it but adapt your choice of materials and your basement usage to the conditions.

Remember that basements were originally not intended to live in but to store things. Therefore, basements were not made to be completely moisture-free.

Plastered walls with, for example, silicate paint is a good combination (note all old plastic paint must be removed first)
No wood or paper on the walls and provide heating and ventilation (or dehumidification)

I would never put a wooden list in the corner between the wall and the floor in a basement because it is the point with the greatest risk of moisture. Why not use, for example, 10 cm of the same tiles as on the floor instead of a wooden list, or plaster down to the tiles and skip the skirting board.

 

[mecese83]

Thank you Oceanis!
On the walls, there was woven wallpaper + wallpaper.. sanded down to the concrete (dusty!) and have now painted with silicate paint everywhere.

Another thought.. when it comes to door frames and moldings they go all the way down, could that be a problem in the future? Alternatively, maybe it's already a problem? How do you solve it? Plastic molding? But what about the frame?

I had planned to "cover" the ugly holes from the old wooden strips with a new strip but now realize that maybe it's just about filling the holes and painting a little more....

 

[oceanis]

There is, of course, a risk that these frames are rotten near the wall and floor if they are directly on the floor.

I had a similar problem some time ago and solved it by cutting about 300 mm off the bottom of the frame wood at an angle. I took the piece to the carpenter, who machined the same profile I needed, then I repaired it and attached it with screws to the wall. I put some paper behind and underneath. After painting, it was practically invisible.

There is a point where you have to draw the line, and if the frame doesn't look completely rotten, leave it until it becomes a problem for you. Most likely, there is a gap between the frame and the wall with some packing in between. So you can hope that not much has risen from the floor and that the frame has survived.

Conclusion: Leave it until it's a real problem and renovate something else in the meantime

 

[cecar33]

But hey Oceanis, then the slab gets as wet as the walls, right? And apparently that wasn't the problem based on what I've read in TS's post. It's probably generally known that the pressure from below is equal to the house's weight and it's equal across the entire surface. If you don't have a capillary-breaking layer, which wasn't used before due to lack of knowledge, so even during the big building boom of detached houses in the 1970s. Houses built with slabs on the ground were fashionable then, and these issues with mold houses arose nationwide. The problems became largest when plastic carpets were glued with adhesive containing animal substances.

 

[oceanis]

Hey Oceanis, then the slab will be as wet as the walls, right? And apparently, that wasn't the problem if I haven't misread TS' post. It's probably widely known that the pressure from below equals the weight of the house and is probably the same across the entire surface. If there isn't a capitalizing base, which didn't exist before due to a lack of knowledge, even during the big construction boom of small houses in the 1970s, houses built with slab-on-grade were in fashion, problems with mold houses emerged across the country, especially when plastic mats were glued with adhesive containing animal substances.

Cecar33, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say with your post because you're mixing up a lot of things into a response.

1. In TS' post, it was clear that the moisture wasn't due to poor drainage, which was also confirmed by the moisture assessment specialist.
2. When you say the pressure from below is equal to the weight of the house and equal across the surface, it's true that a hydrostatic pressure is equal on a body at a certain depth when submerged in water. It's not true that the hydrostatic pressure on the floor would equal the weight of the house; it depends on how deep the body is placed in the liquid from the zero level. And I don't think the house is submerged in water, so I don't think this is relevant to the thread.
3. The upward force on the house equals the weight of the house. Assuming the house isn't floating in free water, we don't need to explain Archimedes' principle, but can assert that the weight of the house will be distributed across the foundation it rests on. This gives you the pressure on the ground in relation to the weight of the house but doesn't say much about potential water pressure on the basement floor.
4. I'm not sure what you mean by a capitalizing base; you might need to ask an economist because that must relate to economics . You probably mean capillary-breaking underlay, I would assume.
5. Capillary forces have less to do with drainage and hydrostatic pressure from groundwater and more to do with the relationship between adhesion and cohesion, which affects the soil's capillarity, i.e., the soil's pore suction capacity of water. Capillary forces can lift water quite high but have their limitations, so damage on a wall due to capillary-transported water is usually limited to the lower part of a basement wall.
6. Adhesive with animal substances has no direct bearing on the thread's argument but is perhaps more an issue of poorly chosen material combined with incorrect building.
7. I can somewhat agree with your previous response if there's free-flowing water from above due to incorrectly graded land towards the house; damage can occur to the wall. But it was confirmed by the investigator who visited the house that this wasn't the case, so we can leave this out of the thread.