Basement Waterproofing Systems

The choice of waterproofing system for a newbuild basement will depend on a number of factors including:

• Basement construction type – e.g. reinforced concrete, blockwork, insulating concrete formwork (ICF), piled retaining wall etc...
• Proximity of neighbouring buildings and access to external face of the basement structure during construction.
• Whether or not investigations reveal that it is necessary to protect the basement against soil contaminants or ground gases (e.g. radon).
• Depth of the basement.
• Full basement or built into hillside?
• Permeability and drainage characteristics of the ground into which the basement is to be constructed and the position of the water table.
• Proposed use of basement. E.g. Higher levels of dryness are required for habitable basements than those use only for car parking.
• Consequences of failure of the waterproofing system – where these are high additional layers of waterproofing or telemetric alarms may be considered.

Due to the factors above the basement waterproofing design will tend to be unique to each individual basement. It is for this reason that BS8102:2009 recommends that a waterproofing specialist such as a waterproofing product manufacturer is included as part of the basement design team.

Example Basement Waterproofing Systems

Five example basement waterproofing systems are shown below to illustrate how the choice of waterproofing system can be adapted to reflect the type of basement construction and the project requirements. Comments are given for each system together with CAD details and NBS clauses.

The examples are intended to provide a starting point for the basement waterproofing design process, but we would recommend that you contact our technical department on 01403 210204 to discuss individual basement waterproofing projects in more detail.

System	Suitability
	Newbuild	Conversion
Internal Cementitious
Internal Cavity Drainage
External
Combination
Piled Wall