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Posted by on July 29, 2008, 9:47 am
> Man, it's been wet lately. =A0The basement on a house I own isn't exacty
> wet but it's definately damp and has that basement smell. =A0It's mostly
> concrete block that looks like it replaces the original laid up stone.
>
> From the ground level down, the old paint (which appears to be old
> Drylok) is pretty loose. =A0I'm having my teenager blow it off with a
> garden hose and a little light scraping. =A0Above grade it's in pretty
> good shape.
>
> My first thought was to scrape it down and re-drylok it. =A0It's really
> not a bad option. =A0But I was wondering what other people where doing
> and how things worked (or didn't work) for them.
Nothing you put on the inside of the wall is going to eliminate the
problem. You have a bigger problem than most. Just scraping and
scrubbing is not going to get your walls in the right condition to use
the paint on stuff, even if your situation might be added by it. You
would need to sand blast it clean and I would not want to do that. I
have done it once in a special case, it was a pain, but I knew it
would be.
If the original paint failed, the same conditions, even after
sandblasting, would also fail.
I suggest you start by determining if you have moisture condensing
or coming through the wall. Use some duct tape to tape a square
(about 1 foot on each side) to the wall and another on the floor.
Come back the next day. Is the moisture under it or on it?
If you are finding moisture under it, then you need to work from
the outside and move the moisture away from the wall. Lots of work,
but it works. The next bet is the French drain idea. It may well
work.
If the moisture is on the side towards you, the moisture needs to
be removed from the air using a dehumidifier or better ventilation.
In part what works best depends on local conditions. For that
reason I suggest you contact some of your neighbors and see what, if
anything, has worked well for them.
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