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| Finding the best wall product for your basement remodeling |
By:
Jacques Bouchard |
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Untitled Document
The Best Remodeled Basement Wall Products
As housing costs slump and more and more people are finishing their basement instead of selling their home, companies are designing their own basement remodeling wall panels. Unfortunately, many of these companies have products that have been hastily produced, poorly researched, or make misleading claims to the effectiveness of their final product. Before you make a final decision on which basement finishing products you want, ask yourself these five questions:
1. Is this basement wall product water resistant?
A basement water leak at some point isn't a matter of how , it's a matter of when. With all the pipes, sinks, and toilets in the house along with the water heater, washing machine, and water storage tank, something is definitely going to leak.
Additionally, your foundation is can leak through foundation wall cracks in the walls or floor as well as through the foundation wall floor joint.
2. Will my basement wall product resist mold?
Even when your basement is not leaking, water can still come through the porous concrete, stone, or tile foundation walls because of hydrostatic pressure. This moisture will collect on your finished basement wall product. If it has any organic material, this material is going to grow mold. Fiberglass, drywall, wood, and most other building materials used for basement walls have at least some organic material. Mold and dust mites growing on the organic material will release fecal material and spores in the air that will travel throughout the house and create a variety of respiratory problems for you and your family.
3. How durable will my walls be?
Once you finish your basement, you're going to want to use it. This means that you may want pictures, shelves, cabinets, a plasma TV, a mirror, a wine rack, or any number of other items mounted on the walls. You're going to want a strong, reliable wall that can hold up. Additionally, it's important to have basement walls that can handle daily wear and tear without breaking, scratching, or becoming damaged. A product that washes easily is also important- especially if children and pets will be in the room. A good test to see if your wall is going to be able to handle stains is to draw a pencil line on a sample. If it can be easily removed, then you should be able to wash most stains from the wall. Beware of absorbent wall materials- if it absorbs moisture easily, it will also absorb spills and other liquids.
4. How much insulation does the wall product have?
In Canada and northern states in the United States , a minimum insulation rating of R-13 is being written into local building codes. Whether or not this is required in your area, it's a good idea to add to the warmth energy efficiency of the home by adding thick insulation with your walls. Hard foam insulation will add to the strength of the wall product overall, and if it also features a hardboard ceramic panel, then you will be able to mount heavy objects on the wall without the need to find a stud. Be sure that if you insulate your wall that it's completely covered with insulation on the outer walls, or your protection will have a hole for heat to pour out of.
5. How well can my basement walls keep sound out?
If you plan on making noise in your basement, you're going to want a wall product that can soundproof your home. Many products do little to keep sound out, and some products even help it travel around the house! Hardboard products tend to reflect sound back when it strikes them, making them a poor sound absorber but a strong sound barrier. Wall panels with soft insulation and a cloth covering absorb sound well and are effective at keeping a room quiet and peaceful. Basement Wall Comparison Chart
To make it easy for you, we've created this comparison chart on six different common basement finishing wall products. For the sake of this chart, any material that generally does not warranty their product for more than three years is considered ineffective in that category. Please also note that insulation can be added to any of these products as well- just be careful that it's warranted against water and mold.
Product Water Resistance Mold Resistance Durability Insulation Sound Absorbing Sound Barrier Wood paneling NO NO YES NO NO NO Standard Drywall NO NO NO NO NO NO Mold Resistant Drywall NO* NO* NO NO NO NO Soft Insulation Wall Panels w/Cloth Covering NO* NO* NO YES YES YES Hard Foam Insulation Wall Panels w/Hardboard Paneling YES YES YES YES NO YES
* There is no long-term warranty offered to support these claims
From this chart, you can see that wood paneling and any type of drywall (even mold-resistant drywall, whose warranty generally runs from 6 months to 3 years) are ineffective materials for a basement finishing. Soft insulation paneling is a better material to use, with an average of R-11 insulation and strong soundproofing qualities, but it's unfortunately among the least durable and cleanable of the products, and mold and moisture can still damage it fairly easily. Additionally, its spongelike insulation soaks up moisture very quickly, making it very absorbent for unwanted spills and liquids. Wood paneling is more resistant to spills and liquids, but it can swell with water, casing it to warp, buckle, rot, and grow mold. Drywall deals with moisture poorly as well, and when it gets wet, it will generally need to be replaced.
While hard board insulation wall panels do reflect sound, they have the most advantages of all basement finishing wall products. Basement wall panels like To tal Basement Finishing's EverLast Wall Panels have a 50 year warranty against mold and are durable enough to have a 684 pound shear rating without studs. A half inch drywall board using nylon wall drills has a 17.5 pound safe shear rating, and most soft insulation wall panels can hold no more than ten pounds! Hard board wall panels with dense foam insulation can still act as a sound barrier and will not allow sounds to pass through, and they're much more durable than any other material when it comes to impact damage. A quality dense foam insulation product will easily meet the required R-13 insulation rating, ensuring that the materials will be code-complaint for many years to come. Additionally, hard foam insulation and paneling that's properly installed will often have a Class A fireproofing rating, making your home safer than ever!
To summarize: You want a water-resistant, mold resistant, durable material for your walls. It should have soundproofing properties and at least an R-13 insulation rating. The best way to make sure you're using a product you can count on is to ask many questions, do a lot of research, and above all, check out the warranty !
About the author:
Jacques Bouchard is a professional writer for http://www.basementsystems.com and http://totalbasementfinishing.com. Our company does basement waterproofing, crawl space encapsulation, sump pump installation, dehumidification, and basement finishing. Our estimates, consultations, and 90-page full cover books are free and no-obligation, and all our products come with a great reputation and written warranty. |
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