I live in an older house that has cement floors and they sweat bad .Is there anything I can do to make them stop sweating?
stop sweating cement floors
There a difference between hydrostatic pressure and moisture in the air causing the dampness. Hydrostatic pressure comes from below ( as Don said) and of course the other is in the air, which can be removed w/ a dehumidifier. The other , I haven t heard of anything that will really stop this. Other than basic landscaping to shed water away and to have your cement floor perimeter cut open and drainage tile installed. To find out which one is your problem, dry off an area of the cement w/ a fan and tape( duct tape) a 1ft x1ft pc of foil on to the cement . Leave for 24 hrs, and if you have a lot of moisture after that, chances are your getting water from under the slab. No flooring , other than ceramic flooring, should ever be put on this type of cement w/ this problem. You ll waste your money. GL
Maybe an epoxy coating, if you can get it to stick on the wet concrete. Otherwise, consider a plastic vapor barrier, with foam pad and a floating floor above. Building codes now require a plastic vapor barrier underneath concrete slabs to prevent this problem. They didn't know to do this back then, that's why your old concrete slab is sweating. It actually lets a lot of moisture into your house, and I think it makes the floor cold in winter, too.
