Stop Your Slab From Sweating: 3 Tips To Prevent Condensation On Your Concrete Basement Floor

9 January 2015 by Derrick Gordon

If you walk into your basement and it looks like the floor has been sweating, you may become concerned. However, "sweating slab syndrome" is not unusual for concrete slab floors. It is caused by condensation. In fact, there are even things you can do to stop your floor from being wet so often. Here are three tips to help you.

Be Sure It Isn't Seepage

The first thing to do to keep your basement floor dry is to be sure that you are dealing with condensation and not seepage. Condensation can be easily fixed, but seepage may indicated a more serious problem with your foundation, and you may need to work on waterproofing your basement.

How do you know if you have condensation or seepage? Take a piece of foil and put it on the floor, taping it to the floor along its edges. Wait a day or two, and if the side facing the basement is foggy or wet, you've got condensation. If the side facing the floor is wet or foggy, you likely have seepage.

Use a Dehumidifier

The purchase of a dehumidifier can prevent and take care of condensation rather easily. Condensation is an indicator of too much moisture in your basement, and a dehumidifier will take the moisture out of the air, and therefore prevent condensation on your floor.

Use a Concrete Sealer or Coating

Concrete is considered to be a porous material, which means that it easily absorbs moisture in the air. To keep your concrete basement floor dry, you may consider covering the entire thing with a concrete sealer. An epoxy paint or a polyurethane coating may work perfectly, for instance. You just have to remember that you need a material that will not be permeable, so that moisture and drops of water are unable to penetrate the sealer and reach the concrete floor. 

When you're ready to apply the sealer, make sure that your floor is completely dry. In fact, you may consider having fans on for a few hours beforehand, to keep the air circulating and unable to condense on the floor. It is also important that you wait until the least humid part of the day. That way, you will be sure to avoid locking moisture into the concrete floor as you work.

With the information in this article, you should be able to keep the floor of your basement dry. Be sure to use the tips that are most effective on a regular basis, so that condensation is never a problem for you. 

For more information about caring for your concrete floor, you may want to contact a local concrete company, like Sieben Cement Contractors Ltd.

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