Greetings. My girlfriend recently bought a house so I am helping with some home improvements. The house is about 60 years old and the basement has block walls. The walls were painted at some point and now some of the paint is coming right off due to some mold and some of the blocks have a slightly crumbly surface. The rest of the paint is stuck really good. Also there are maybe 2 or 3 cracks in joints throughout the basement. So overall they are in good condition. I was recently told that i may want to first, use a stripper or sander to remove all of the paint. second, wire mesh and parge the walls with cement, and third, coat with a dry-lock or Thoroseal to keep mold out. This basement is not going to be finished so it doesn't have to look too pretty. I was wondering if this is an accurate course of action. Also there is a bit of water coming in from the floor where a crack or hole had some cement ploped onto it, and where the floor was apparently dug up to place a pipe for a newer heating system. This pipe was covered with cement. Is there a way to prevent water from coming in from these spots. Any advice and pointers are GREATLY APPRECIATED.. I thank you so much. MrWonka :confused:

should i screw the sheetrock into the floor joists or should i tack up some 1x4's on the joists and then sheetrock into the 1x4's? i was planning on going straight into the joists but i saw a friends construction project in his basement and he used teh 1x4's. just wonderng what would be best.