How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

Dry and without a pump.
I guarantee my clients their basement will not leak. Anything. Ever.

My clients are mostly Self-Builders. People who will live in the new property themselves. They seem to be the only people who care about quality and good workmanship.

I break the mould. Whether I consult, train, supervise or manage, I work for you and you pay me for my time. That puts me on your team with your best interests at heart.

Being on your team rather than a contractor, and my supervision, is why my basements don't leak.

Not a drip has got through, round or over more than 100 basements I built or helped build since 2013. In the right-hand column, you can read about the recent changes to the British Standard.


The committee that wrote the replacement Standard seem to have noticed this web site and thought if one specialist always builds a basement never to leak then everyone else should as well.

But almost no one else is following the new British Standard yet. Not even 2 years after it became the only government Approved Document.

Sadly, contractors will still want to cut corners. They know that an internal drainage system will hide all their bad workmanship and pump your leak water away for ever.

But it is the wrong approach. If a basement leaks, the pump can be blocked by mud and the basement flood, causing mould and ill health.

Ill health is the point where the Building Act 1984 was breached. The law broken.

From Part C "Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture".

building a waterproof basement   building a waterproof basement   building a waterproof basement

I got this clarified and confirmed by DLUHC Building Assurance team. Read the last paragraph on page 2 by clicking on the 2nd thumbnail above.


If your basement is a new single storey domestic basement (rather than a Victorian cellar, workshop or factory) built compliant with BS8102:2022 you should not have to explain any detail to anyone.

As the letter says, if anyone wants you to depart from the Standard, they must "demonstrate that the Building Regulations requirements have been met by some other acceptable means."

I invite you to prepare yourself for some tough conversations with your architect, your building control body and your insurer about this, because they are all likely to want internal drainage, which is the very product that allows bad workmanship by contractors, allows leaks, allows floods and causes ill-health.

However, you do have this web site and all its evidence on your side to help you.
 
  Please note. I don't go underneath anything already there.

     These images take you to two large menus

     how to build a basement

     how to build a basement

Building Regulations have always said that occupants must be protected from harmful effects. That is the legal test.

The Approved Document, BS8102:2022 replaced BS8102:2009 as the only Approved way to prevent harmful effects. BS8102:2009 failed.

BS8102:2009 said let the water in and pump it out. But bad leaks leak mud as well, which block pumps that lead to floods, mould, harmful effects.

This is evidenced by internal drainage system quotes nowadays including a maintenance contract to clean out mud at regular intervals, as well as more pumps.

But the approved guidance in BS8102:2022 says fix the leaks.

No leaks will mean no mud as well as no flood.

The basement structure should be built not to leak or else leaks must be repaired.

From BS8102:2022:
4.2.c refers to the waterproofed structure;
6.2.3 the water resistance of the structure should be improved;
Table 2 in 6.2.4
the structure of a habitable basement should not leak;
if remedial work is not possible, the design should be altered;
10.1 defects or elements that might result in unacceptable leaks should be remedied.

The basement structure should be inspected after it is cleaned and dried and after a period of heavy rain. Nothing should cover the basement structure before it is known not to leak.


Refer your architect to my page for architects here, and INSIST your basement is checked for leaks and all leaks repaired before any contractor is paid in full. And before the basement structure inside is covered with anything.

It makes sense to build your basement structure not to leak. Or leak so little that if any component part of an internal drainage system failed the basement could not flood.

This is exactly what the new Standard sets as the minimum requirement for habitable accommodation: "No water ingress or damp areas is acceptable". 6.2.4, Table 2, Grade 3.
(Internal drainage is only acceptable in areas where damp and seepage are acceptable - Grade 1a, for example workshop or factory).


The reason internal drainage companies still insist you need internal drainage is they claim that workmanship will fail to stop all ingress of water. That your builder will fail to build your basement not to leak.

Plan to have no leaks and plan to have no need of internal drainage. Make sure this is what your team fully understands - that their workmanship has to be good.

Your team starts with your architect.

If you succeed and your basement structure is dry, you have fully complied with the regulations and now you can do what you like.

You might apply waterproof paint all over the inside. A good idea because that is certain to be a vapour barrier.

You might also follow the suggestion on the page for Architects to have a very minor drainage system with a very shallow tray.


THIS WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY.

Please note. I don't go underneath anything already there.

I will help you understand whether your basement is viable.

I will explain advice you get elsewhere and help you accept or reject that advice.

I will tell you how I think your basement should be built, and explain why.

I will train you or your team to build your basement not to leak.

I will supervise all your concreting and make sure it is waterproof.


In the context of this web site, self-build means the legal power to have your basement built properly by paying for the materials and the labour directly yourself.




I could be your Waterproofing Specialist to BS 8102 : 2022 here.

You can click on the Menu Page buttons above to access all 80+ pages.

You can read to the end of any page and click on the Next Page button.




Free Guarantee.

My Guarantee is that there will be no visible ingress of water through the structure, whether through concrete or joints. No one else offers such a useful guarantee.

This means I am unique guaranteeing workmanship - mine and yours as well. Subject to entirely reasonable terms and conditions.

You can read the details at the end of my guarantees and warranties page here.



Me watching everything.

how to build a basement

You don't have to struggle. You don't have to waste money. I can show you how, supervise your concrete pours and guarantee you have no leaks.


I have over 30 years of varied basement construction experience on big commercial projects such as office blocks and shopping centres to the smallest domestic basement. I have a lot of experience of traditional formwork, hired in systems and ICFs. For self builders and builders who haven't built a basement before, my fusion of all the above is the best.

My clients choose the timber based upon what they can best use in the house they build. That way, the formwork is very cheap. My way is simple. You can always add more screws (which is an obvious downfall of all ICFs), my formwork is very strong and my concrete structures completely waterproof. I began building domestic basements with probably 100 times your relevant experience yet I still learned many lessons the hard way.

This is me on the concrete pump.

how to build a basement

Someone following with my poker

how to build a basement

and the same wall a year later with no other waterproofing against the concrete you see poured above.

You can see the slope in the top of the wall below, and the additional timber to create that sloping top in the photo above.

If you used either a hired-in formwork system or ICF you would find that sloping top difficult and prone to bursting.

how to build a basement  

When this client sent me this photo, he was providing me with a reference for another prospective client, and this is some of what he said

  "we are very proud of the work Phil did for us and how he pulled the project together. The finished result is outstanding. Phil has extensive experience and all of the civil engineering people we had on our development held Phil and his experience in high regard.

Phil has a very direct manner and gets things done.

Phil always without questions works in your favour.

Phil will save you a lot of money.

As you can see, I can’t speak highly enough of Phil and the work he does. He made such a difference on our development and we have been delighted with the end product. Our development actually sits in water so we needed every confidence we would have NO leaks. I have taken a picture of it today and attached it here. You can’t see the underground elements too well as they are below the water line

I have another house build on our current site that involves concrete near water and Phil will be doing that job too - he does not know this yet but he does now."




This was the same basement viewed the other way when I returned to pour the concrete ground floor on the steel frame.

how to build a basement

The client kindly sent me another photo showing the progress..

how to build a basement


Every basement build is different with its own special problems that only come to light as you do the work. Success requires experience. I am the experience you need without making a fortune out of you.



I live in Essex and I am happy to travel anywhere in the Home Counties, down to Southampton and North to Nottingham and Derby.

But I do not like going into London.

  I am not registered for VAT

New dwellings can get all the VAT back from building costs but not from design, management or hire costs.

I will bill you personally for everything you get from me, free of VAT.


Call me, Phil Sacre:

07773 377087


Email me:

philsacre@basementexpert.co.uk





This Home Page is where you find my menus to all the other pages.

Two menus.

The first menu is your basement building questions answered. The second menu is your basement construction manual.



How to Build a Basement   This section is discussing how you might build and which methods and products available I would tell you not to use.


Viability

How to Build a Basement

basement structural warranty

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement
 
Build Choices

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement
 
Essential Knowledge

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement
 
Design Team

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

How to Build a Basement

new basement products






How to Build a Basement   This second menu is intended to be a complete build manual to build a new basement structure waterproof from the reinforced concrete alone.


First things first

Party Wall Act agreement


Building Control


The correct floor choice over your basement


Underpinning


Pumping rain water


When to start digging


Setting up site


Site insurance


Initial setting out


Diggers and dumpers


Muckaway soil removal


Safe sides or support


Brief intro to piling


Project manager


Site manager


Concrete blinding



Starting to build

Slab edge formwork


My training


My supervision


Clay heave board


Steel reinforcement etc


Which concrete pump


Buy waterproof concrete


Get the floor level


Get the floor finish


Insulation and screed


Curing floor concrete



Basement retaining walls

Planning your formwork


FORMWORK MANUAL


Waterproof roof


Self compacting waterproof concrete


Products I supply


Threaded rods


Thin nuts


Waler plate hire


Ducts and pipes


External drainage membrane


Useful links and handy information







Back to the Basement Building Questions Answered

how to build a basement


Forward to the Basement Building Construction Manual

how to build a basement


For a fixed fee of £199 I will answer all your questions by email. More details here.

how to build a basement



This is how clients usually become clients for the first time

how to build a basement
 
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