Why do you need to waterproof your driveway?

This is a job that many homeowners can do themselves, but if not, there are many companies that will take care of the problem. The reason you need to waterproof your driveway is to reduce water and insect damage in your home. It will also help eliminate the musty smell that you can sometimes smell in your home, but are not sure where it is coming from. Moisture from the soil in the crawl space can transfer to the floor joists which can rot over time and need to be replaced. Basically, costly damage to the structure of your home can occur due to damp driveways. All of these problems can occur because the crawl space under your house has wet soil. There are many different options on how you can solve this situation.

One of the first things to do is surround the foundation of your house and remove dirt in the proper way. When leveling the land away from the foundation of the house, you need to turn it into a slope so that the water drains away from your house. If the water doesn’t drain, it will drain backwards. You need to make sure that you are using what is called an aggressive slope. This type of slope is usually made a half inch for every foot and will ensure that water flows away from the foundation of your home quickly before it has a chance to enter the crawl space.

You should also look at your gutter downspouts, which should be checked periodically, especially if you have rainwater drainage that runs underground. You want to make sure they are not filled with any type of material that could cause rainwater to drain from the bottom of the downspout or gutter and into the crawl space. If the downspouts in your home just end where they meet the end of the exterior base, you should add a flat piece that carries the rainwater another two to three feet into your garden or other area before it runs out the downspout. , so it does not go into the crawl space.

One of the most used techniques in waterproofing the access space is to use thick plastic sheets within the access space to cover the floor. To keep it in place, you will need to tape where the plastic sheeting meets and glue it to the crawl space walls to prevent moisture from the ground water from entering the crawl space. Also, you should consider waterproofing the walls of the crawl space. The cheapest and simplest way is called negative waterproofing. This is done by painting the walls of the access space with a product that is specially made to waterproof cement or concrete. Leaks may still occur, but not as severe.

If you continue to have problems with the humidity in your access space, it may be time to call in the professionals to take care of the problem.