So we have a few cracks in our foundation. The previous owner waterproofed them down to the footing but above grade (raised ranch) he did some weird DIY patch. He first put hydraulic cement into and around the crack and then put a silicone over it all. Now it works and no leaking BUT our parge coat is cracking off with the freeze/thaw and loosening this fix he did and it looks terrible. I cannot paint over this because the silicone doesn't allow me to adhere paint to it. How can I fix these above grade cracks and paint/cover them so they are not such an eyesore.

 

We have no picture so it's anyone's guess.
Remove the silicone and try again.

 

How big are the cracks?

You will need to clean away any silicone and loose patch before you can do any new patchwork.

You can prime the silicone if you want to paint over it.

 

They are completely vertical I do not know how wide they are because of this patch they did and the inside is finished. The silicone is holding well and I don't want to remove what is good. What would I use to prime the silicone for paint adhesion? Just an exterior primer?

 

http://www.zinsseruk.com/product/b-i-n/ is about the only primer that will give you good results. Then you can top cost with whatever you want.

It is very unusual to see a crack that is completely vertical. Is this in the middle of a wall or where it joins an older wall, like for an addition.

 

There are a few...one smack in the middle of the back of the house, one under a window around the side and that same wall one a little further up. The line isn;t perfectly straight is does zig and zag but the overall line going down is vertical. The home inspector said it is a settlement crack and there was a tornado in the area about 10 years ago that I think shifted the house.

 

just be sure to remove anything on the patch that is already pealing before priming. the rest of the foundation wall should be cleaned and scrubed with a wire brush as well before Painting.

 

just soap and water and a good scrub to clean the wall? I was going to prime the entire foundation because there is a paint on there already and not sure what it is. Thanks!

 

If it is already painted, you will need to be extra sure you scrape and scrub very well. Ideally you would use a muriatic acid, but where it is a wall, you can probably get away with something a little less harsh. There are environmentally friendly replacements for muriatic acid, but I have not used them to know how well they work. If you have a presure washer, use that to rince the wall after scrubbing. If not, a good stream from a garden hose will work.

 

i like joe's post best, kirstin,,, absent pics, we're all guessin' - zig-zag crack suggests cmu block bsmt walls & vertical suggests footer settlement,,, hydraulic's the wrong material but sometimes works so leave it alone if it is,,, rent a small chipping gun & remove the failing parge coat back to good part,,, remove ANY silicone ( was it a caulk smeared over the crack ? ) that's NOT in the crack,,, mechanically attach new base binder ( hardware cloth, netting, stucco wrap, etc ), place base coat, top coat, & then paint whatever color you wish alternatively you could just plant some nice bushes

IXNAY on muriatic but tsp's fine,,, pressure washer's great - we use 4,000psi @ 4gpm's + wobble-stick nozzle 'cause time's valuable,,, we use sher-wms,,, IF there's now paint, its probably latex but take some into sher-wms & ask 'em

good luck !

 

While it's best to not paint over silicone caulking, when you must, using a pigmented shellac for a primer helps [it might take 2 coats] Zinnser's BIN [Keith's link] is the most well known and easiest to find.

 

aren't there paintable silicone caulk mtls ? likely the smear isn't that tho,,, most h/o's think apron/vest stores are the be all/end all of suppliers so we probably safe assuming that's where waldo bought the repr silicone,,, either ge or dap ( private label'd/mfg'd by dow )

 

Yes, some silicone caulks are paintable but the pure silicone caulks like G.E. silicone are not although a coat or two of pigmented shellac will allow you to paint over them.

 

appreciate the knowledge - not that i'll remember it or use it often i'm not a painter but my guys paint,,, more often than not, i sit in the truck

thanks, mark