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  • Snider Briggs posted an update 1 year ago

    What is a concrete vapor barrier?

    A concrete vapor barrier is any material that stops moisture from entering a concrete slab. Vapor barriers are utilized because while fresh concrete flows wet, it’s not meant to stay like that. It has to dry and after that stay dry to stop flooring problems.

    If you’ve had a problem with a basement floor (or any concrete floor), you understand the sort of damage that as well much moisture might cause. Moisture enters concrete in several ways, including using the ground, from humidity in mid-air, via leaky plumbing that passes through a slab. Obviously, there’s the moisture that’s within the original concrete mixture.

    There’s only one-way moisture leaves concrete, though, and that’s via its surface. If you have a concrete floor that’s in continuous experience of a resource of moisture, you’re gonna have problems. For this reason a vapor barrier under concrete is crucial. Vapor barriers are a way to hold moisture from stepping into the concrete.

    Note: A vapor barrier is not identical to an underlayment. However, you can find underlayments that behave as vapor barriers.

    Vapor barrier permeability is expressed in perms.

    Vapor barriers have varying degrees of permeability, expressed in perms. The higher the number, greater permeable the material. Impermeable vapor barriers are the types which has a rating of 0.1 perm or fewer while class II vapor retarders are the type which has a rating higher than 0.1 perm and less than 1.0 perm.

    You’ll hear people while using the terms ‘vapor barrier’ and ‘vapor retarder’ interchangeably. However, in fact, they aren’t a similar thing. Vapor barriers are less permeable than vapor retarders. On this page, i will be with all the term ‘vapor barrier’.

    How come an excessive amount of moisture in concrete an issue?

    One word: adhesives. Too much moisture in concrete is an issue given it may cause pH changes that destroy adhesives. Here’s what goes on.

    As moisture makes its way to the surface of an concrete slab, soluble alkalies arrive for that ride and lift its surface pH above that relating to flooring adhesives. This causes the adhesives to breakdown and you also end up having flooring failures for example swelling, bulging, or cupping.

    Do you want a vapor barrier under a layer of concrete?

    In a word, yes. Here’s why.

    There’s usually water underneath a structure site. It might not be nearby the surface, however that doesn’t mean it’s not there. This water can move up from the soil and come into exposure to the base of a concrete floor via capillary action. Capillary action could be stopped by using something termed as a capillary break, a layer of crushed rock that goes involving the subgrade and also the slab.

    Capillary breaks do a good job of stopping water in the liquid state from reaching a slab. However, they can’t stop water in vapor form from reaching and entering a concrete slab. Therefore, there needs to be something beneath the slab that forestalls vapor moisture from entering.

    You need to a vapor barrier for liability reasons because most manufacturers of flooring include vapor barriers or retarders in their installation guidelines.

    How thick should a plastic vapor barrier be?

    In accordance with the Self-help guide to Concrete Floor and Slab Construction authored by the American Concrete Institute, a vapor retarder really should not be less than 10 mils thick. You may want a good thicker barrier though if you’re covering material with sharp angles.

    Net profit: Vapor barriers must be sufficiently strong so that they don’t easily puncture. When they do, moisture can get in and that’s what you’re continuing to keep out.

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