# Basement walls



## chemteacher03 (Feb 9, 2014)

I am looking to get some advice on here regarding basement wall painting. I have done countless hours of "googling" whether or not using a paint such as Drylok or something like Blue Max is ok to use on a poured concrete wall. My basement is dry as we have 2 sump pumps with drain tile as well as proper use of downspouts and grading of the landscape around the house. Many people claim Drylok to work just fine with no issues, some claim it will chip and peel and even cause mold growth, and others have claimed that the concrete will deteriorate. My home was built in 1999 and I live in the suburbs of Chicago.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

impo, all those claims are correct - iow, it works well on dry walls,,, conc MAY deteriorate but that has little-to-nothing to do w/drylock


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I've been a painter for 35 years, have used lots of UGL Drylock. Is it gonna keep out some minor water coming in from the exterior? Yes, but that's about it. If it will give you peace of mind, by all means, put on some Drylock. It really is formulated more for concrete block (fills the pores) than poured concrete, but, it will work on poured concrete. 99% of the time, moisture issues are caused by things happening on the EXTERIOR of the home and that is why Drylock isn't a cure all or a waterproofer for interior basement walls.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

it MAY stop some water vapor but that's about it - again, only mpo & i've been doing this for for about as long,,, i'm not a painter, either :no: waterproofing is done ONLY on a structure's exterior,,, anything else is ' water management ' as gym kind of agrees,,, i have seen no difference 'tween cmu OR conc far's the material's effectiveness,,, block is much more porous than conc which accounts for its faster failure rate on block impo

IF you feel you need for something inside, i suggest kryton or xypex :thumbsup: they're both crystalline penetrants & work very well :thumbsup: you rarely see them used on residential as most engineers & pro's who use them are commercially oriented


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

would Redgard work better? dunno.... in my view its actually worse to trap the water in the block vs managing it in the space.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

wtr passing thru soil is often acidic & it will attack the lime in the cement,,, that's how blocks & conc get eaten up  redgard won't stick as the wtr in the wall will loosen its adhesion


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

stadry said:


> wtr passing thru soil is often acidic & it will attack the lime in the cement,,, that's how blocks & conc get eaten up  redgard won't stick as the wtr in the wall will loosen its adhesion


so then backhoe, french drains, tar walls, plastic or tar paper, backfill. its a losing battle to try and control the water from inside when the source is outside.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

One interesting coating for concrete is Thoroseal. I had it used on some repairs and finishing up on some old concrete dam and control structures.

It is definitely NOT a paint. It must be applied AND mixed according to instructions,(especially the timing and mixing). It is a dry material that is mixed with water, allowed to fatten up and some water possibly added before application. The concrete (block or poured) must be misted before application. I goes on with a big, heavy, wide brush and you regret not misting ahead , but is should be like thin pancake batter. It will cover/fill all minor mortar joints(almost). A second coat may be applied that can give a much more uniform appearance (smooth, swirled, troweled, etc.). the second coat must be applied 24 hours later after the surface is misted. The reason the that the surface is tight and dense that a second coat will not bond to the dense coat without a bonding agent after much more than 24 hours.

A lot of work to do it right.

Dick


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

prefer a decent mini-ex or small trackhoe, exterior ( properly silt fabric filter'd ) toe drain, hlm5000 & pond liner on the ext walls, drain either to daylight OR sump & pump ( might need a standpipe,,, know you don't mean ' tar ' OR asphalt as that must be applied hot

dick, never tried thoroseal belowgrade on negative sides,,, does it work ? i'd pick kryton or zypex instead if we were trying to dampproof interior walls


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Stadry -

I used it on the basement of a home I bought afew homes ago. A 75' long home (including garage) that was blocking the flow of the water from the slope behind and the walls stopped/slowed a lot of the flow and followed the back footings to the basement at one end. It was a real genuine leaker with water showing up at the joint between the basement slab and block wall. That, showed that the water was at least under the basement slab and then showed up on the block a while later as they filled.

I slopped on Thoroseal (no need for misting) as best I could. A few weeks later after a couple of inches of rain. I punched a hole in the second course of block and the water stream went about 5' into the basement until the water level dropped below the hole. As you know the joint between a basement slab and the walls is "floating slab" that sits on the strip footing and the slab shrinks as it cures moves with the temperatures. Sawing a narrow line at the junction and using a backer rod and good caulk never seems to work with a lot of water pressure.


It (Thoroseal) can make a big difference. - I did put in an interior drain a year or two later when my boy got big enough to help. Not a real good house buy because I did not know the strange type of soil in that area. - The back had a deck, sidewalks and a walk-out to a patio, so an exterior approach was not possible and the cars in would slide down the front driveway away from the house if they were parked on snow or ice when the tires were warm.

Thoroseal can help or work. It is not advertised as a "waterproofer", but as a water-resistant product since it was a really a commercial/industrial product and I assume they did not trust the ability to guarantee that it would be used by the public properly. It is not for painters!!

Dick


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

gotcha, dick :yes: seeing as most of the work we did was public $ in 1 form or another, we were always using spec'd mtls OR approved ='s + working w/engineers, designers, specifiers, & inspectors,,, most of my knowledge was gained from them reading their plans & specs + woc classes

thanks !


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

stadry said:


> prefer a decent mini-ex or small trackhoe, exterior ( properly silt fabric filter'd ) toe drain, hlm5000 & pond liner on the ext walls, drain either to daylight OR sump & pump ( might need a standpipe,,, *know you don't mean ' tar ' OR asphalt as that must be applied hot*


the black goopy tar stuff in 5gal pals, that you can roll on, etc. its tar based goop, almost liquid like.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

tar or asphalt ? thought it was asphalt emulsion but could be wrong :whistling2:


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