Water proofing basement with existing paint

I just bought a house, and the basement in a section was water proofed. and was painted over with another paint. So I know dry lock wants it to be put on concrete or it will not work. Is there any other brands out there that would work ? I have just a little water coming in with all this rain where getting right now. right where the wall and floor meet. I would like to recoat all the walls and floor. I was looking at H&C® Basement & Masonry Waterproofer, no idea if its just like dry lock and wants no paint on the walls, and I'm not shore witch one is better? I tried to scrape the paint off and it will not come off. Because the top paint joined with the water proofing one. So what do I do?

The wall


thanks

 

I think any waterproofing paint or compound is going to want a clean, bare wall. The existing paint is a barrier preventing anything else from getting a good grip with the wall.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Water infiltration is best addressed outside by diverting water away from the structure with gutters and grading. Painting a wall on the inside is an attempt to stop it once it's already most of the way through.

 

Drylok will adhere ok to the paint but it's waterproofing properties are diminished. While I've used a lot of H&C stains, I've not used their waterproof coating. As Mitch stated, it's best to stop the water on the outside. Check your gutters and downspouts along with the grading. Ideally you'd waterproof the exterior of the wall but sometimes the little things can be very effective.

 

For a leak at the joint between the wall and floor, paint will not be a solution.

Your water is coming from below the slab or possibly from under the wall, depending on the details of the construction.

It looks like your wall could be sitting on the slab instead of the preferred method of having the wall bearing on the footing and then pouring the slab later after utilities are all in.

Dick

 

I cant fix outside the house. gutters are away from the house. the road slopes to the house so i cant fix that. plus i cant dig it up the foundation there is a poured front portch. and its leaking there in the basement so i cant get to the out side wall. ITs lot like it leaked a lot we got 15" of rain and just a little water came in thats it. a lot of other peoples wholes basments where under water. so it did good for a 50 year old house. So I do not have to many options that's why i was thinking paint.

 

Hi Mike
If you read through the forum you will discover you are not alone. A little water here and a little there and all hope a touch of special paint will fix it. Truth is, it rarely does and when advising on the forum most of us hesitate to say that, so I did. Some of the paints will be effective in preventing moisture from coming through, but water is an entirely different beast. Even Hoover dam has water coming through it, they just watch it carefully.

Sometimes a deep sump will pick up the water before it can get into your basement. A sump and pump are always essential anyways just in case.

As long as you aren't going to insulate and cover those walls, then providing a drain path to that sump can at least manage the water that gets in.

The last is a good dehumidifier. pick up a meter first to see what the humidity is down there and then keep it below 50% RH.

Bud

 

ok, i get that. it did work when i did my dads basement last year though. he had running water coming in so i used that patch and painted drylock and with all this rain nothing.

Well thats why I was thinking to do it to stop the humidity down there. about 40% of the basement is just water proofing paint but just one coat thats why its not working. the 60% they painted over it and the floor and its pealing off the floor and walls. I did get a dehumidifier it was 95% down there. have it running at 65% humidity and it fills up a 75p dehumidifier in 24 hours.

 

Wow! 9 plus gallons in 24 hours. Below 50% mold has a hard time growing and since it's relative humidity, as you move closer to the colder walls, the RH goes up. But this has been a wet summer and some of that moisture might be coming from infiltrating humid air. Most air leaks out the upper area of a home with replacement air coming in the lower area. If the air outside is at 80% RH and you bring it into the cool basement it can hit 100%. Since a typical home replaces ALL of its air every couple of hours, that's a huge potential source of moisture and will certainly keep a dehumidifier busy. So one challenge will be to separate the air source moisture from that which is diffusing through the walls. My guess would be some air sealing is in order. Besides, it does wonders for reducing your heating costs. Here is a link on air sealing from Vermont.
http://www.efficiencyvermont.com/ste...ide_062507.pdf

Bud

 

so you think you've stopped the water w/some sort of paint/coating ? silly wabbit its still in the wall & the dissolved soil acids are still attacking the lime in the block,,, when the wall collapses, its too late to think of waterproofing

 

The chances of a wall collapsing due to water infiltration are pretty slim. If that were the case half (maybe more) the houses here in CT would be nothing but a pile of rubble.

However, trying to fix the problem you described with a wall coating is futile. Wall coatings will help reduce dampness in a basement due to moisture perking through the walls but that is not what you are describing.

If you are having water seepage where the slab and wall meet it is caused by ground water finding it's way through the seam between the slab and the footer. The only way to fix that is to either divert the water (gutters, grading,foundation drains) or pump it away with a sump pump.

 

' slim ' was what 4 h/o's thought, too - just in 2011 & the year/s not over yet,,, it just takes time,,, 1 either waterproofs from the exterior OR they manage the leaks from the interior.