🚨When Moisture Invades Your Basement

What this photo reveals is not just a damaged floor, it is the symptom of an avoidable construction problem: the absence of a vapor barrier membrane under the concrete basement slab.

However, since the 1970 National Building Code, Article 9.13.1.3 has required that slabs be moisture-proof. This standard, in effect for over 50 years, was intended precisely to prevent moisture infiltration by capillary action and the damage it causes.

👉 Without a membrane, the slab acts like a real sponge.

👉Moisture penetrates and accumulates under floor coverings.

👉Result: mold, peeling finishes, indoor air contamination, and deterioration of materials.

The most alarming thing? Even today, we find recent constructions where no protection plan has been put in place under the slab, directly exposing occupants to costly problems and health risks.

A simple constructive action - the installation of a compliant vapor barrier membrane - would have been enough to avoid this damage.