You can add valuable space to your home or property by building a basement. If you are thinking of creative ways of adding floor space in your home to incorporate perhaps a wine cellar or a home cinema or even a swimming pool, consider venturing downwards to the basement.
There are several structural regulations that must be adhered to when excavating below ground and these are areas that your architect and builder will take care of. However, one of the most important elements to consider is the waterproofing of your basement. One of the reasons homeowners are put off building basements is due to the possibility of flooding and leaking resulting in damage to furniture or equipment. Basement conversion waterproofing is therefore a vital decision in your conversion project.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure your basement has a robust and hardy waterproofing system installed. Whatever method of waterproofing you choose for your basement conversion, it should be appropriate for resisting ground water pressure and should have British Board of Agreement (BBA) or similar independent technical accreditation.
One of the well-known waterproofing methods used by many builders is ‘tanking.’Tanking is a generic term used to describe various mediums which are used to deal with water entering a below ground building. Tanking membranes are really barriers which are applied to the structure to physically hold back water ingress and are the more traditional method of dealing with water from the ground. Tanking forms a completely waterproof box in the ground – like an inside-out swimming pool – but water pushing against a solid tanking barrier has a way of finding its way past or through in the end.
Today, most basement specialists use a more sophisticated cavity membrane system. This is a textured breathable membrane around the entire basement behind which any damp is trapped and channelled down the outside of the basement walls, under the floor and into a sump from where it is pumped harmlessly away.
As experienced builders with many years under our belts, the SDA Team have often been called in to fix many a botched project, and sadly one of the most common botches is poor waterproofing.
For this very reason, SDA Build London is proudly accredited by the UK’s leading waterproofing brand, Delta, with all our basement conversion projects installing their cutting-edge Delta Membrane Systems.
This high-density polyethylene covering is applied to the walls, floors and ceilings of a basement dig out, where it blocks, controls and drains any potential ground water ingress from entering a property. It can be applied to new, existing and retrofit projects, and is flexible and durable so it can cope with movement or vibration in the home – important as this is often the cause of basement flooding! All our Delta Membrane installations come with a 30-year warranty that ensures your basement is protected.
If you are building a basement and need some advice on waterproofing options, do give us a call on 0208 191 7595. Or simply book a FREE consultation via our website. We’d be happy to visit your property and share our thoughts on what might be your best way forward.
