# Basement cement Dust from Floor



## bergerdude (Jan 3, 2010)

Hi,
What's the best way to keep the dust down in a basement from the floor, since concrete will constantly emit dust over time. I am planning on finishing the basement and carpeting.
Dri-Core and similar products, while nice, are not a $$ consideration.
The 2part epoxies with the decorative chips....seem like overkill, there will be no hot tires in the basement. 

So my plan was to paint and/or seal, get a good carpet pad and carpet when the basement is finished.

I've thought about DryLok for floors, since the floors can actually be wet when you apply the latex paint with a roller. (I plan to mop up all the dust, hence the "wet" comment).
Zinsser and the like seem much too think for this application, since I am not worried about moisture wicking up as much as I am the dust.

Is using DryLok (the FLOOR stuff, not for walls) a bad idea?
Will the sealing of the floor create moisture issues? i.e. does it need to breathe?
Is there a better way to go?

Thanks!


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

Just about any water-based concrete sealer should do the trick IMO. The carpet should do an excellent job of protecting the sealer from surface wear. I certainly WOULD NOT recommend a solvent-based sealer in a home that's being lived in.


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

Concrete per se does not emit dust. If you drag something hard and heavy across it, you will scratch it, creating dust. If your concrete is creating dust and you are not beating on it, there is something wrong with the concrete, and you should fix the problem prior to attempting to seal it. My basement concrete floor is typical, has been in place since 1959, and causes zero dust. There is no covering or treatment on it at all on the floor. Where it has been painted (the walls), there is some flaking of the paint, other than that, no dust.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

*' dusting ' is usually caused by either too much wtr in the original conc OR the finishers bless'd it too much to made their job easier ( ie, lo-strength cement paste on top of the floor,,, penetrating wtr-based sealers would work fairly well,,, dan's cousin probably put in our floor as we have no dusting, either :no:*


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## NCpaint1 (Aug 13, 2009)

An acrylic sealer will work fine. You could use a floor paint if you waned to add some color.


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## bergerdude (Jan 3, 2010)

Thanks for the responses. I guess my confusion results from "sealer" versus "water proofer" etc. 

What is drylok (the latex for floor, not masonry block)?
Is it a sealer? Would that work, or is it bad to use for breathability?

At my previous home I did actually use the drylok for the floor, but I wasn't there long enough to notice any problems. The one thing I like about the drylok is the floor doesn't have to be dry, so I moped up the residual dust/dirt and was off to painting.

The main question here is....do basement floors need to breathe? Allegedly the slab by code has a plastic vapor barrier. SO this would make me think that the slab does NOT need to breathe...since the moisture should be blocked from below by the plastic (depending on its integrity and holes!!).

Again, in my experience some dust does come off the floor, from walking, moving boxes around, etc. So I would like to do my best to prevent against this since everyone here has some allergy.

Thanks.


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## NCpaint1 (Aug 13, 2009)

bergerdude said:


> Again, in my experience some dust does come off the floor, from walking, moving boxes around, etc. So I would like to do my best to prevent against this since everyone here has some allergy.
> 
> Thanks.


Paint it with a good floor coating. Benjamin Moore Floor & Patio is good, so is PPG's Floor & Porch. Both are urethane modified acrylic's, and should hold up well, available in a Satin finish. Colors are somewhat limited, no ultra deep colors, but you really dont want that on a floor anyways. :thumbsup:


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## bergerdude (Jan 3, 2010)

NCpaint1 said:


> Paint it with a good floor coating. Benjamin Moore Floor & Patio is good, so is PPG's Floor & Porch. Both are urethane modified acrylic's, and should hold up well, available in a Satin finish. Colors are somewhat limited, no ultra deep colors, but you really dont want that on a floor anyways. :thumbsup:


The cost looks about the same.

Would there be any problem if I used drylok to paint the floor (the floor stuff, of course.)


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

*impo.we would paint a floor if paid to do that - we would also use drylock-type mtl if paid to do that,,, in NO manner would we ever guarantee the work OR longevity,,, if you're selling the house soon, go for it,,, those who buy these mtls looking for permanence & durability are the rightful prey of the sellers - again, my pro opinion !*


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