Information It Is Important To Be Familiar With Concrete Vapor Barrier

Just what is a concrete vapor barrier?

A concrete vapor barrier is any material that prevents moisture from entering a layer of concrete. Vapor barriers are used because while fresh concrete is poured wet, it’s not supposed to stay this way. It needs to dry then stay dry to prevent flooring problems.

If you’ve been able to a problem with a basement floor (or any concrete floor), you realize the level of damage the exact same thing much moisture can cause. Moisture enters concrete in several ways, including through the ground, from humidity in mid-air, and through leaky plumbing that goes through a slab. Obviously, there’s also the moisture that's in the original concrete mixture.

There’s only one-way moisture leaves concrete, though, and that’s via its surface. For those who have a concrete floor that’s in continuous exposure to an origin of moisture, you’re going to have issues. That is why a vapor barrier under concrete is important. Vapor barriers are a way to maintain moisture from getting yourself into the concrete.

Note: A vapor barrier is not same as an underlayment. However, there are underlayments that behave as vapor barriers.

Vapor barrier permeability is expressed in perms.

Vapor barriers have varying levels of permeability, expressed in perms. The higher the number, the greater permeable the pad. Impermeable vapor barriers are the ones using a rating of 0.1 perm or fewer while class II vapor retarders are those using a rating in excess of 0.1 perm and fewer than 1.0 perm.

You’ll hear people while using terms ‘vapor barrier’ and ‘vapor retarder’ interchangeably. However, as it happens, they aren’t exactly the same thing. Vapor barriers are less permeable than vapor retarders. On this page, we will be with all the term ‘vapor barrier’.

Why is an excessive amount of moisture in concrete a problem?

One word: adhesives. Excessive moisture in concrete is a problem because it might cause pH changes that destroy adhesives. Here’s what are the results.

As moisture makes its strategy to the outer lining of your layer of concrete, soluble alkalies show up for that ride and raise its surface pH above that regarding flooring adhesives. This causes the adhesives to breakdown so you end up with flooring failures like swelling, bulging, or cupping.

Do you need a vapor barrier within a layer of concrete?

In a word, yes. Here’s why.

There’s typically water underneath a structure site. It may not be near the surface, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. This water can progress up from the soil and are available into experience of the foot of a concrete floor via capillary action. Capillary action may be stopped by installing 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 its liquid state from reaching a slab. However, they can’t stop water in vapor form from reaching and entering a layer of concrete. Therefore, there ought to be something within the slab that stops vapor moisture from entering.

You might also need a vapor barrier for liability reasons since the majority of manufacturers of flooring include vapor barriers or retarders of their installation guidelines.

How thick should a plastic vapor barrier be?

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

Important thing: Vapor barriers need to be sufficiently strong enough so they don’t easily puncture. If they do, moisture can get in and that’s what you’re trying to keep out.

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