OT: Basement paint

Is the basement waterproofed from the outside? If water is seeping in, then no paint will stick.

Then, just go to your paint or home improvement store, and ask what they'd recommend.

Good Luck! Rich

There is swimming pool paint at approx. $100 a gallon unless you can get it wholesale and only blue or white. First coat will wear you out along with your wallet, but on the second coat one gallon will go a long way.

If the water is on the wrong side, nothing is going to stay.

SW

If it's bone dry, seal and color it with an opaque concrete stain. Some porch and patio paints work, too. RTFlabel. I recommend pure white, as usual, in eggshell. It requires the least lighting for a decently lit space and the eggshell does not produce glare.

Right, and that takes, at minimum, trenching around the house and installing a thick membrane seal. (Insulate while you have it open, Tawm.) Installing a drain system in the trench before filling is highly recommended, too.

-- Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air... -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you don't need a Thorocrete type waterproofing compound, get block filler for the walls as a primer and then topcoat with a good latex. Sherwin Williams is a good source. I would use alkyd on the floor, the latex does not hold up that well.

UGL DRYLOK paint. Will work great, will stop any moisture from coming through and can be top coated if desired with other colors. Been using it for a LOT of years. Available in latex or oil base and a few colors.

Thanks, it looks to be about $30/gal. but a gallon only covers 75-100 sq'. Ouch! Is that an accurate assessment? Is it easy to work with? Will one coat do the job? I don't have a water problem now but there is some efflorescence where a drain was clogged. That's been repaired and the basement is all dry for 6 months. I'm guessing at 1,600 sq' of wall surface and about 1,000 sq' of floor.

So, Steve, does the latex work as well as the oil-based?

That's probably just the first coat coverage, and second will stretch quite a bit farther. The first one sinks in DEEPLY. 95% of it is covered by the first coat, so the second glides right on.

If you don't have water problems that you know of, just use a solid stain on it. I used regular floor paint and it does scuff off a bit, but it was a lot cheaper. $17/gal vs $25+. If it's not sealed, seal it first.

-- Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air... -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last basement I did was about 1500 square feet. Walls only. Took 7 gallons to do the job. All gray...

I prefer the oil based but the latex does a good job. I'm just one of those people who look at a water based latex in a waterproofing application with some trepidation. Now IF you're painting on DRY substrate and it doesn't get the least bit damp until it cures then it is probably OK. Most of the basements I have done were not really dry.

You don't really need two coats. As long as the substrate is clean and dry it goes on pretty nice. Poured concrete takes a LOT less than block. The 100 SF is on very porous block. On most concrete you can just about triple that coverage.

Scrub the area that water hit with some muriatic to make sure any minerals are removed.

Personally, if I ever painted a basement, I'd use the brightest white I could get. Flat, of course. And, being a nut, I'd put either stick-down linoleum-type peel-n-stick tile squares or carpet on the floor. On top of the moisture barrier, a layer of rigid foam insulation, and one of those in-the-floor heating systems. Hm. I just now "visualized" being in a basement with that treatment, and suddenly my feet feel nice and comfy-cozy. ;-)

Cheers! Rich