Coating poured concrete basement walls (pics)

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I have a poured concrete foundation and I get a good amount of moisture coming through the walls. I believe much of it seeping through the holes where the forms were held together as can be seen in the photos; there are wet spots on the walls half way up every few feet. I plan on using polyurethane injection in the holes, but I'm not sure about what to use on the walls. They are currently covered with a stucco type material on two walls and a very smooth cement over the other two. Both coatings come off in sheets and can be broken by just pushing with one finger. I plan on removing all the coatings, wire brushing the cement and cleaning and etching with muriatic acid. Two products I have been considering are Quickrete Heavy-Duty Masonry Coating and Drylok. Does anyone have any first hand experience with these products? I searched for old posts and found that some people say they don't work, but I don't know if they prepared the surface correctly.

Thanks Dante

Reply to
Dante M. Catoni
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Probably not. Step one to prepare the surface correctly; Remove excess moisture.

That isn't done from the inside.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

Get a Sodium Bentonite injection then worry about coating the inside.

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Reply to
RickH

I'm sure you have read this before: the proper cure is on the outside of the building. It does appear that the moisture is concentrated on a snap tie pattern which would imply that the snap ties have extreme rust and/or the outside pockets were never grouted. It would appear that your wall was not damp proofed and certainly not water proofed on the outside. Do you know if you have a perimeter drain? Have you made every effort to move surface water away from the walls? These would include gutters and downspouts with leaders that move water well away from the walls (10 feet type); removal of plantings, shrubs, and flower beds at the wall line; and surface drainage swales, area drains, and/or storm provisions to divert water well away from the house.

I have no success or failure stories for your suggested products. How were you planning to inject polyurethane in the holes, and how were you going to remove the steel remnants? If you still want to make the attempt from the inside, there is one product you should consider:

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Reply to
DanG

I have rototilled, regraded, and planted new grass. I sealed an asphalt walk to the foundation with driveway patch. I extended all the downspouts. This has made a huge difference and stopped water from coming in even during heavy rain. My dehumidifier has gone from removing

58 pints a day to about 5. My basement also doesn't smell anymore which is the best part of it. I think the walls are still damp because the moisture is behind the stucco. I'm going to continue removing it to expose the whole foundation, run the dehumidifier and see if it drys out in a few weeks. I have a feeling that the problem will be very minor which is why I was wondering about coating from the inside.

I was planning on using the Emecole polyurethane injecting kit. I wasn't going to remove the metal.

Do you know of anywhere I can order Xypex? I sent the local distributor an email a long time ago and haven't received a reply.

Thanks Dante

Reply to
Dante M. Catoni

My local distributor is a contractor's supply house with whom I normally do business. They stock some of the products and can order any others. Mine is a phone call away.

Reply to
DanG

Yup. It's often astonishing how much improvement is possible from such steps - sometimes a single "small" defect in guttering or downspouts can deliver a surprising amount of water to a basement or crawl space.

Here a writeup (with pictures) of a classic example:

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Michael Thomas Paragon Property Services Inc., Chicago IL
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Reply to
Michael Thomas, Paragon Proper

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