What to use to seal basement walls...

[Nilesw]

I just moved into a new home and I am about to set up my shop in the basement. Like most basements it has a musty smell and before I start putting up my tools and really setting up I wanted to pressure wash the walls with something to kill the mold (bleach?) and to reseal them with something good to help prevent moisture build up. What is a good product to do this?? Anyone got any tips?? Is there anything that I can spray on the floor joists in the ceiling to kill the mold if it is up there and to have some residual value of preventing it in the future??

Thanks
Niles
PS Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier??

 

[neilly2]

UGL makes waterstop paint for basement walls(see home depot paint department). I looked into it but is very expensive. To do it right was going to cost me around $1400 in material alone, but my understanding is that it is good stuff.

The cost of it spurred me to dig up my basement and waterproof the outside of the walls with roofing tar. I also felt stopping moisture from the positive side of the wall would be better in the long run.

As far as pressure washing with bleach open the windows, get an oxygen mask a move the kids out of the house.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Neilly2 gives good advice here. Especially about the presure washing (bleach is scarry stuff in aerosol form). Sealing the outside is always going to be better than sealing the inside. Also, you may find that your drainage isn't what it should be and the moisture comming in through the walls is a symptom of water laying against the outside rather than being carried away by drain tiles.

A presure wash with just water and improved ventalation or a dehumidifier may solve the problem. Get a dehumidifier with a humidity setting, not a cheap one that just runs until you turn it off.

Personally, I just painted the basement with deck paint that was labeled as usable on concrete and it has held up for many years witout showing wear, but I don't have the water problems you may have.

Cliff

 

[Nilesw]

Where exactly would I look for a Good dehumidifier?? Sears has cheapo ones from what I saw. Home depot and Lowes were about the same.. Can anyone recommend a model? The basment is unfinished about 800-100 sq ft..

Thanks

 

[JimR]

Brand is not important. What is important is that it works. I use one in my garage during the summer sometimes. I believe it is a Kenmore. I sealed up my basement using waterproof paint. I first waterproofed the walls with 3 coats of Thompson's Water Seal.

 

[DiskDoctr]

Nilesw,

I bought a Whirlpool floor model on wheels at Lowes for around $300-$400 last year. It fills up about a 2 to 2-1/2 gal reservoir or you can use a piece of garden hose to a floor drain, which I do in the basement.

This is a serious dehumidifier. Don't bother tinkering with the small ones. Mold is serious.

Dry it out, wipe the walls with diluted white vinegar solution (like Spring cleaning), and keep it dry. Vinegar has similar properties as chlorine bleach, but without the chlorine gas risk. Just DO NOT use bleach and vinegar together (makes lethal chlorine gas /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif )

Sealing the inside of block (?) walls only lets the wall fill up with water and deteriorates the wall. To do it "right" from the inside only, have to cut a trench around base of inside of wall with small pipe, put a small hole in the bottom of each block, put a small piece of hose from the hole to the pipe in the trench, then run the pipe into a collection hole drilled into your floor with a sump pump to pump the water up and out a drainage pipe.

Then, you can seal the inside wall. Will still deteriorate the wall, but at a much slower rate.

Another thing to think about- insulation. Many homes had unheated basements, so faced insulation (has a moisture barier) was used. Once you add heat to basement or use it as living space, any moisture is trapped.

I had a similar issue with moisture, but not wet walls, and removing the overhead insulation helped a lot. I am planning to insulate the walls with the Dow rigid foad insulation and finish the basement this winter for a rec room with pull out sofa and downstair bathroom and shower to double as a guest room.

I have already planned most of the items and considered many options (like how to add sewage facilities in a basement), so if you want some ideas, just ask /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I also hear an open bowl of vinegar set in the room will help eliminate odors (musty smell?), but haven't tried it.

Good luck.

-JC

 

[hennydamule]

DiskDoctr is giving GREAT advice! I highly suggest that you do not use bleach! Vinegar works just as well and is non-toxic. If you don't trust that, I suggest that you go with something like simple green, as you really don't want airborn bleach in the air.

I also don't think that pressure washing mold is the way to go, as you would cause the spores to go airborn, which is their natural way of transporting themselves around the rest of your house. Wipe down the areas instead.

I have a 200+ yr old cobblestone foundation, and the best thing that I did was dig up the outside, and seal it off from there.

The other thing to do is to make sure that you put a good fan down there with your dehumidifier. You need to keep the air circulating around the basement to get the most out of whatever dehumidifier you decide to buy. I just got a Kenmore and it works great, at a good price.

 

[JDgreen227]

Want to throw in my nickel's worth...whatever dehumidifier you buy, be sure it will operate in the temperature that your basement is....there are many models that will ice up and stop working when the air temperature gets below 65 degrees. There are models available that will operate at a lower temperature and it's best to buy one suitable the first time.

Don't inquire how I learned that, but I happen to have TWO dehumidifiers now... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[hennydamule]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( Want to throw in my nickel's worth...whatever dehumidifier you buy, be sure it will operate in the temperature that your basement is....there are many models that will ice up and stop working when the air temperature gets below 65 degrees. There are models available that will operate at a lower temperature and it's best to buy one suitable the first time.


Don't inquire how I learned that, but I happen to have TWO dehumidifiers now... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif )</font>
Excellent Point!