Hi! I follow green building strategies whenever I can and I tend to hate basements in general. If EYE were building new I would not build a basement. But since I’m working with an existing home that was built in 1973 (Climate zone 6) that already has a basement I’m looking to capture additional space and potentially put a bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and living area down there. It’s about 950 square feet and there’s a separate entrance. I’m pretty certain there’s NOT a vapor barrier under the floor but I do see black tar on the exterior of the foundation. There’s no exterior insulation or any below the basement floor which would be ideal. There’s also no sump pump or interior or exterior drain tile. IF I were to install a sump pump and interior drain tile is it risky to finish it down there? No active water leaks although has been before. First improvement I did to this property is replace and upsize the gutters and downspouts and improve the grading. Basement is tall. In this situation would it be smartest to use a Dricore type of floor and wall paneling system with mostly man made materials? Or is my fear of leaks, moisture saturation, mold and mildew not warranted? Thank you!

My last house would flood in a half hour if the sump pump went out. This new house we built stayed dry for the whole build process with no water collecting so we didn't even put one in and has been dry.

It really depends on the land it was on....the old house had to be a swamp at some point because all the water and 2 feet of top soil. New house is on a hill with layers of sand through its elevation.

The old house didn't have drain tile at all either but at one point a brick floor that they poured cement over so the water would run through the brick to the sump pump and worked good. Wonder if this is an effect you could do with the Dricore.

I am not an expert.....