# I tried drylocking the basement



## odej98 (Sep 21, 2011)

I am finishing half of the basement into a sports themed man cave. With the house being on the side of a hill, 90% of the walls in this portion of the basement have earth behind it. There is some minor moisture in spots that I tried fixing with drylock but I am noticing these spots over time have become yellow and starting to bubble through the drylock and latex paint. Obviously I need to scrap the loose paint off, but how do I seal the walls to prevent this from happening again? Maybe dryloc etch or muriatic acid? I do live in central Illinois where the weather goes from one extreme to the other & I do have a baseboard water proofing system which seems to work well.


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## Just Bill (Dec 21, 2008)

My usual statement: 90% of basement water problems can be fixed or reduced by having gutters/downspouts that get water at least 6' away from the foundation walls, and grading that does the same thing.

You say you are on a hill, is there a space where the hill and the foundation wall meet that directs water around the house?? If not, there should be.


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## odej98 (Sep 21, 2011)

There is one side of the house that I should re-grade to avoid the very thing you are speaking about to remove the root cause of the problem, and that will be a good spring project. But I am still not sure about how to clean the walls for paint adhesion


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

You do not want to "seal" the basement walls. Painting anything on them is a waste of time and money.
As Bill said, control the water from the exterior. Post some photos of the hill and house.


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## odej98 (Sep 21, 2011)

Ron6519 said:


> As Bill said, control the water from the exterior. Post some photos of the hill and house.


It clearly slopes into the house which is a no-no. I have about 12' to the neighbors driveway and less to the property line.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

You might be able to control the amount of water against the house by installing a water collection pipe along side the house that's sloped to the back part of the house.
Otherwise, I see a regrading away from the house and a retaining wall near the property line.


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