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Basement Wall Waterproofing Paints?

Discussion in 'General' started by DrA5, Oct 8, 2018.

  1. DrA5

    DrA5 The OTHER Great Dane

    I know most of you in the south have no idea what a basement is, but due to some home renovation, my storage racks in the basement had to be moved away from the walls, and I am finally going to paint the basement block walls with a waterproofing paint. I don't have any issues per se, just some efflorescence and darkening of the block in spots with spring thaw or heavy, heavy rain periods. No water issues in the basement to date, because we live in very rocky soil, where the glaciers dumped all their rocks, on the side of a hill. Plus, it would brighten up the storage area of the basement with painted walls.

    Doing some research had a site NOT recommend water proof painting the basement walls, but then again, they had a product to sell instead (BrightWall panels).

    Any experience with brands that work better? No flaking? Seem impervious to water? Pros and cons you have seen?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. rd49

    rd49 Well-Known Member

    Drylok Masonry waterproofing coating.
     
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  3. speedluvn

    speedluvn Man card Issuer

    Timely thread. I’m working on a basement project and painting the basement wall is on the list.

    Hopefully you addressed the moisture issue that caused the effervescence to seep through your basement wall in the first place. Ensure that your downspouts drain well away from your house’s foundation.

    I’m now researching how to remove the effervescent powder from the wall. So far I’ve read that muriatic acid cleans the powdery substance. Then I can proceed to paint.

    Can anyone confirm?
     
    DRye likes this.
  4. rd49

    rd49 Well-Known Member

    It is a soluble salt, so you could even use diluted white vinegar as opposed to muriatic acid if you do not want to fool with that.
     
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  5. ChemGuy

    ChemGuy Harden The F%@# Up!

    Since its just some efflorescence and not total leakage you should be OK with something like drylok.
    When its bad leaks thru the walls, really wet walls, running water, etc you need to address the issue from the outside, ie dig up ground, coat walls with good coating and maybe rock and drains to move moisture away from wall.

    If you try to drylok a wall and it has to much moisture coming thru, it will just push it off with no issue. I ahve run into a couple problems with moisture thru slabs doing floors. Water pressure can easily pop coatings off concrete that when dry tested to 200-300psi adhesion and failed with 100% concrete adherence. That means if you tried to pull the coating off normally it broke the concrete at 200-300psi. Water rpessure thru the slab made it look like it had chicken pox in a matter of weeks.

    So drylok the walls, if it pops off, you have too much water coming thru there and need to try something else.
     
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  6. speedluvn

    speedluvn Man card Issuer

    Thanks :beer:
     
  7. YamRZ350

    YamRZ350 Nicorette Dependent

    The oil base drylok seems to work better for me if its available in your area.
     
    DrA5 likes this.
  8. YZROOSTINYA

    YZROOSTINYA Well-Known Member

  9. Razr

    Razr Well-Known Member

    I use a chemical called Siloxane to waterproof masonry. It's clear, and I don't know if it's tintable or not. But it does work extremely well.
     
  10. YZROOSTINYA

    YZROOSTINYA Well-Known Member

    It’s in Loxon
     
  11. speedluvn

    speedluvn Man card Issuer

    I was wondering if you’d chime in. :flag:
     
  12. Razr

    Razr Well-Known Member

    I don't paint a lot of masonry, but have used Drylock and it seemed to work well. I'm sure the SW stuff is very good.
     
  13. K51000

    K51000 Well-Known Member

    I don't know what they used on my basements cinder blocks, SE WI, SW Milwaukee.
    But it's white, and bright, and we've lived here over 9 years and the walls still look great! We don have a sump pump, house built in '91. We use the basement a lot/daily- game/music room, etc.
    I know that didn't help though, Good luck
     
  14. Fencer

    Fencer Well-Known Member

    I used KILZ on my walls.
    After HEAVY rains, I may get a little mold on the brick in one 4x4 area. I spray it with vinegar and it dies. I don't do it that often.

    P.S. we have basements all over the south. Crawl spaces as well
    [​IMG]
     
  15. cpettit

    cpettit Well-Known Member

  16. RossK6

    RossK6 Grid Filler

    I’ve been out of the paint game for a long time, but some things never change. Surface prep is important, make sure the drainage is what it needs to be, and cinder block will suck up a bunch of paint. Put it on thick with a long nap roller and work it into all of the pores.
     
  17. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    Dammit...it's going to be hard to figure out what that space where the furnace, washer/dryer and our ping pong table was under my parents house was called if not a basement. It was torn down and filled 20 years ago.


    Aside from tornadoes in the MW, the main reason you guys have basements is your frost line. When you have to go over 5' just to get below the frost line, a few more inches is cheap space.
     
  18. In Your Corner

    In Your Corner Dungeonesque Crab AI Version

    Hey, daddy-o
    I don't want to go
    down to the basement
    There's somethin' down there
     
  19. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Funny how people think FL with no basements is all of the south. Don't know many houses around me without them.

    I also don't get waterproofing the interior of the wall trapping the water in it, why not fix the issue so water stays in the ground and not in the wall?
     
    R Acree likes this.
  20. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    That approach is best done when they first dig. After the fact, you are dealing with band aids.
     

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