# Basement floor and walls, paint or other product?



## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

I have a Michigan basement that is a cement floor, full height, with cinder block walls; the home was built in the late 30&#8217;s so you can imagine the current condition(not nice looking at all). It (the floor) has never been painted or sealed (walls have been painted with some type of white paint a long time ago, but this is sloughing off and looks terrible). The walls also have some scaling and white (calcium I think) material that needs to be scraped and scrubbed really well before I would paint both the floors and walls. Not looking to make it perfect, but I want it to look better than it does and last if possible. 
 I was considering using the same stuff that is used in garages for that tough thick epoxy type finish. Sherman Williams has this type of product, and I have a 5 gallon bucket of it, the product is oil based and is designed for garage floors, no mixing like epoxy applications, but Sherman W. usually has good quality products, and I have had good results with their other paint products. 
 Any thoughts on using this on the floor, and after a really good wire brush cleaning and etching of the walls, I was thinking it would be a good way to hide the ugly cinder blocks and other marks that have occurred over the last 80 years. I have 5 gallons![/COLOR]
 I have the acid to etch the floor and walls, to scrub and rinse the floors and walls too, to make sure I get fair/good adhesion. I realize anywhere oil has been exposed to the floor or walls, it wont allow most products to stick as well as new cement, but do you think this is a good idea? I am open to other ideas about how to make this basement walls/floors look better.


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## FISHMANMARK (Jun 11, 2007)

UGL dry lock. We did the whole basement before it was finished. It also left a nice finish for the exterior wall of the laundry room. Yeah, prepping the wall is a pain but I haven't had any adhesion issues. I used oil based, pretty strong smelling. No experience with the H2O based.


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## wartfroggy (Jan 25, 2007)

Late 1930's? Thats almost new! You oughta see my basement, mid 1890's! Looking to do about the same thing. Just got done touching up some of the mortar between the blocks, hoping to get some paint on soon. Most of the floor is concrete, but there is 1 small section that is still wooden planks right over dirt. Doesn't look nice, but it has always been dry. Probably will be looking to tear them out and pour some concrete in that area too. I'd be interested to hear how the painting goes for ya, and if you have any pointers after you're done.


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## gorgeous25 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hiiii,

Keeping basement walls and floor looking nice has always been a problem, paints eventually chip off and look much worse than it originally did. Wood studs and sheetrock helped immensely, but in many cases water stains and mold and mildew made this look dingy as well. Basement Systems has three wall solutions and the perfect floor solution to make your basement look great and affect energy efficiency and comfort as well.


Thanks


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

gorgeous25 said:


> Hiiii,
> 
> Keeping basement walls and floor looking nice has always been a problem, paints eventually chip off and look much worse than it originally did. Wood studs and sheetrock helped immensely, but in many cases water stains and mold and mildew made this look dingy as well. Basement Systems has three wall solutions and the perfect floor solution to make your basement look great and affect energy efficiency and comfort as well.
> 
> ...


 
Is this a store, company, or product name? 

If you have any information beyond the name I will check them out. 
Sounds like they have good products. I'll google them today and see but any more info is helpful.

Thanks,

GBF


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## The_Don (Apr 28, 2008)

I think Certain teed has something like this Greenbush. I know i saw a commercial and am pretty sure this is what it is. Its not a matter of painting the walls, its a whole wall system for finishing off a basement little extravagant for a rental in my book and much more than paint.


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

The_Don said:


> I think Certain teed has something like this Greenbush. I know i saw a commercial and am pretty sure this is what it is. Its not a matter of painting the walls, its a whole wall system for finishing off a basement little extravagant for a rental in my book and much more than paint.


 
I looked at Basement Systems, really nice but too much $ for a rental, I should have stated this was a rental. I will also look at Certain teed too, but reality I think I need to scrape all walls, wire brush them, patch, etch and then prime and paint (oil base). I found a product from Sherman Williams that they recomend for garage floors, that seems like it should be bullet proof. This product may work well on the walls too but it is quite costly, I managed to pick up 5 gallons of it on Craigs list, for 1/2 the cost of retail. But I know I will need more to do the walls. Always open to learn about new stuff, and thanks everyone for the ideas.

GBF


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## hooked4life (Aug 16, 2009)

I have heard very good things about this products http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogD...d=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=dryloc&x=0&y=0


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

hooked4life said:


> I have heard very good things about this products http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogD...d=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=dryloc&x=0&y=0


 
I spoke with the paint guy at HD over the weekend and he recomended, used, and had only good things about this product. I will use it on the walls after I clean, and plug them. They are not that bad, but I see evidence of water in the past, so spring time will be the real test to see if I have a serious problem or just normal moisture seeping through cinder blocks.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Just a thought, how's the drainage around the outside of the house? If you can prevent the water from getting to the wall that might help some. 

Another vote for/user of drylok products, its good stuff!


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

Burksee said:


> Just a thought, how's the drainage around the outside of the house? If you can prevent the water from getting to the wall that might help some.
> 
> Another vote for/user of drylok products, its good stuff!


 
Very good point Burksee, I do plan on increasing the grade and extending all downspouts, as I did in my FT house, we have almost all clay and a very high water table at the locations of both homes. 
It made a huge difference in my full time home, so I'm sure it will with this new one. The man I bought this home from, actually poured 2 foot slabs of cement around the home right next to the foundation?? And he didnt seem to know what a trowel was, very rough, and it will eventually be removed and back-filled with soil to get the correct grade. I do agree that getting the water away is the single most important issue.


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## tishakamrul (Apr 5, 2013)

I think you have to contact basement finishing companies of your area to get idea. They will tell you complete procedure how to make your basement beautiful.


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## rcleofly (Feb 18, 2012)

I have the same type of walls. Very similar situation. We vented the basement well and hit the walls with sanders. Then hit the walls with shop vacs. To remove all dust and chunks. Then we used bag mix to repair any cracks or missing chunks. Finished it off with a couple coats of drylock. I have no worries of water coming in my basement this may change how you go about doing this. Helpful tip use 3/4 nap rollers with the drylock. It's a slow process. 

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