REDUCTION OF MOISTURE IN BASEMENTS OF BUILDINGS

The paper is focused on the problems of increased humidity in the structure of buildings, both modern new buildings, but especially in old buildings, which have usually very poor insulation against ground moisture, or there have been changes in the subsoil. These problems are described in details and according to the situation of the building quality and its use the possible reconstruction is recommended. By the reconstruction the comfort inside buildings should be increased and thus satisfactory hygienic requirements achieved for health of people or possible use for other purposes. This will prevent also possible degradations of the walls and static problems of the building. All renovation methods are compared in terms of the costs of their implementation. As an example of practical realization an underground room in an old building in Prague was chosen. The measurements showed a totally unsatisfactory situation in this room, so the reconstruction was designed to improve the current situation. The comparison before and after reconstruction provides practical experience of the positive and negative aspects of the proposed and verified solution. The obtained results from this measurement and findings may be useful for further research in this issue as well as for practical solutions for similar problems in many older buildings.