Black Tar Like Substance Coming From Concrete Floor In Baswment

I purchased a house built in 1965 last year and the basement has leaked for the past 10 15 years on and off.

Black tar like substance coming from concrete floor in baswment. Flooring is normally installed onto a foundation using a an effective adhesive. It s good to know that if your sink is in the lowest level of the house it will be one of the first. Put some of the solution on suspected spots. What i ve seen is grey.

Applying tar to your basement walls provides a damproof coating instead of waterproofing. I ve used the crack filler to fill in narrow gaps big gaps would take too much of that stuff but in the bigger joints i ve used the chinking. They also sell a concrete crack filler kind of like calking that does the same thing. It s possible to clean tar off a concrete floor but it can require substantial physical effort and possibly harsh chemical solutions.

It s economical looks interesting and is quite durable even with heavy use and traffic. However asphalt based tar isn t a true waterproofing material. The black stuff coming through your sink s drain may be sewage backing up through all of the drainpipes in the house. Joe has been on this same floor for a few da.

The materials chosen for the floors determine the type of adhesive necessary. As such many of the floor tiles have become very loose and popped up off the floor. The mastic and the tiles could contain asbestos depending on the age. To test for mold make a small amount of 50 50 bleach and water.

Black tar was a popular option for flooring adhesive in homes built prior to the 1970s. Asphalt based tar is often used to damproof basement walls. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials. The repair man that came out called our utility company and they came out cleaned up the stuff replaced our meter outside and added a drip line outside right now dripline goes into a bucket.

You probably do have some mold based on your description of what has happened. Normally backed up sewage comes through the drains in a basement first since this is generally the lowest part of the house. Tar is painted on the walls to keep water vapor from moving in and out of the walls. When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos.

I would describe it as styrofoam rope that you stuff into the crack. The black stuff in the pics does look like mastic. Concrete flooring has many fans for a number of reasons. It can still be found when the floor of such a home is pulled up.