When deciding on a house
with a basement, remember that it should be made as a sealed bathtub,
completely resistant to water and ground moisture. It can be done in two ways: as a black
or white bathtub.
Antifoam insulation in
the basement
Many investors currently
building a house, abandon the basement - this is usually associated with
significant costs of basement.However, when the plot is a small story at level
-1. it can be used even as a
pantry. The basement is an ideal
place for storing preserves and other delicacies, provided, however, that the
temperature is kept constant regardless of the season and minimum or no light
is available.
Black bathtub
The black bathtub (used
more and more rarely) owes its name to the colors of building materials used
for its insulation, i.e. glue, paper and similar insulating materials. The biggest problem while making them
is to ensure the continuity of insulation, especially when the foundation ditch
is not much larger than the basement construction. A lot depends also on the skills of
the contractor as well as the quality and durability of the materials used. Such insulation is often damaged after
some time from the completion of construction (although this may already happen
while backfilling foundations), therefore it should be additionally protected
against damage - preferably with a brick wall or at least a foil. In the case of damage to a black
bathtub, its repair is expensive and time-consuming - it is usually associated
with burdensome excavation of foundations.
White bathtub
In this case, instead of
the bituminous masses, the proper structure made of watertight concrete
fulfills the role of the sealant. It
has a twofold function - firstly it is a stabilizer of the building structure,
and secondly guarantees adequate insulation. The
white bathtub owes its name to the materials used, of course. In this case, the entire house is set
on a foundation slab, which is continuously connected to the external and
internal walls of the basement and the ceiling covering it.
When constructing the
basement using the white bathtub method, it is essential to follow the work
schedule. At the very beginning,
reinforcement is made, foundation slab, then walls, and ceiling at the end. Work breaks also can not be
accidental, because they must take into account the soil loads and the building
structure. Thus, the working gap
at the foundation slab should be higher than the contact with the walls. The same applies to expansion joints,
which due to structural reasons divide the whole cellar into smaller parts.
Otherwise, it may damage the foundations. All
joints and work breaks must be properly sealed.Various types of tapes as well
as sealing and compensation profiles for deformation, as well as slit and
trapezoidal sheets as well as flanges sealing installation transitions serve
this purpose.
Of course, the quality
of the sealing materials used is of great importance - you can not save on
them.
