What can we do to seal our flooring?
Question by : What can we do to seal our flooring?
Ok, the room we live in was added on to our roommates/house owner’s house before they bought it. It was VERY crappily built. So just about every time it rains, our room floods and we have to move ALL our stuff into the garage and sleep there for a few nights until our room dries. Unfortunately our roommates just got puppies! So they have taken over the garage now, and its covered in pee and poop, so we can no longer move in there to avoid the flood water.
The owner of the house/oldest roommate said there’s no point in sealing the room and to not do it. We later found our that they’re tearing down our room in June and rebuilding another one correctly for their parents/grandparents. However, what are we supposed to do now?
For now I am lining the room with my boyfriends and my clothes, however its only preventing some water. I don’t have much clothes to begin with, so this is kinda bad for me. We ARE going to move asap, however I need a job to do this. My boyfriends paycheck cant pay for EVERYTHING.
Basically the water comes in where the floor and wall meet, which leaves me to believe the room needs to be sealed. However, in some spots, in between the floor boards, water seeps up if ANY pressure is applied.
So my questions:
*Do we need to seal the room, or is it another problem?
*How do we fix the leaks coming from inbetween the flood boards in the middle of the room?
*What is the name of a decent sealant that we could buy at WalMart or Home Depot? How much?
*What else can we do?
And please, dont tell me to tell the roommates to pay for it, cause they refuse to. We’ve tried.
We had 3 rows of rolled up towels and it didn’t work. Fabrics get saturated with water.
We’re trying to move, but I need the job first, can’t do anything until then. Hmm maybe I should dig a trench/moat so the water goes into that first. Roommates wouldn’t like that.. 
There’s isn’t anything to do?
Best answer:
Answer by W
Go to walmart, buy a bunch of cheap towels and roll them up and put them all along the baseboards where the water is coming in. and spread some out over the floor.
Add your own answer in the comments!
January 25th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Sounds more like a drainage issue. No sealer on the planet will take care of this problem. You need to move asap
January 25th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
If they are going to knock down the room anyway, do whatever you need to to protect your stuff. I’d go get a few huge caulk guns and start spraying anything that looks like a potential leak source.
January 25th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
caulk entire perimeter of room with paintable caulk .also out side on the roof caulk where roof meets house.cheap fix but will work. 65
January 25th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Is your room on a concrete slab? If so you to do something outside to divert the water. The grade (dirt level) needs to be at least 6″ below the floor level. You need to dig a trench around the outside, and then a trench leading away from the room to a place where it will continue to fall away from the room. Ideally you want to put gravel in the trench so water will drain/bleed thru the gravel. Other then that, sealing the floor isn’t an answer. There’s nothing that will stop the water from coming in. Water takes what is called “the path of least resistance”. Digging the trench will create a path away from the room. Dig the trench around the room about 12″ wide and the trench leading away the same. If you don’t have money to buy gravel then just make sure the trench stays formed the way it was dug. Remember it’s important to make sure there is continuous fall in the trench away from the room. Hope this helps some.
January 25th, 2012 at 11:33 pm
what a mess ….it would be difficult to seal without correcting the problem….like the other answer said towels or maybe try those SHAMWOWS
January 26th, 2012 at 12:04 am
It sounds like your floor is setting on the ground. When building a floor you place 2X8 floor joist on top of cement blocks and level it. Then you place your flooring down. Joist is any of the parallel horizontal beams set from wall to wall to support the boards of a floor or ceiling.
Note: Flooding causes BLACK MOLD which is very dangerous to your health.
January 26th, 2012 at 12:46 am
You could line your room with painter’s plastic. Then when the water flows underneath the plastic and into the rest of the house getting on your roommate’s crap… maybe they’ll be a little more willing to fix it. I’d stop paying rent.