I have a 1908 twin home in Phila. My basement floor is concrete. The walls are dirt, covered with something old and white and flaking. When the white flakes off, the wall comes with it, and looks almost sawdust-like. There are large shallow holes in the walls. I want to eventually seal the walls so that there's no moisture problem - I assume this is what's causing the flaking. Do I first fill in all the holes? If so, with what? Any ideas? Also, any recommendations for basement sealer? Home Depot has several things, but I get boggled when I go in that store. Thanks.

I have a third floor above our house with a full set a stairs that we currently use for storage space. The ceiling is well over 10' high in the middle of the room and we would like to convert it to a playroom for our daughter. Currently the room is vented with a turbo fan and two gable vents on each side of the room. It is unfinished. I would like to insulate between the joists (2x6) with either foam board or possibly the foam vents and fiberglass. My major concern is that we have mild winters and pretty hot summers (live in West Virginia) and I don't want to bake the roof shingles. I would like to maximize the space between the insulation and the back of the roof and am therefore leaning towards the foam board. The problem is the foam board R values are very low (4-10) and I am not sure they will work. On the other hand, I am concerned that the hot air will not flow through the foam vents well enough to remove the heat and that the room will be a sweat box in the summer and possibly bake the shingles. I plan on using the turbo fan to vent the room by building an air duct that connects to the spaces between the rafters. Also, in the winter the room warms up very easily. I have had my heating and cooling guy out and he said our current unit should be big enough to easily warm and cool the space. However, I am concerned about our ability to make it very cool without heavy insulation?? Help!? Thanks.