best paint remover and water sealer

Ok, I have to questions here .. i have an older row house with brick basement walls .. the walls have been painted at one point and the paint is not falling/chipping . also, at the 2 ends of the basement, there is a bit of water and moisture coming through .. I will be renting out this house and required to take care of the water problem as well as the chipping paint ..

I talked to 2 different contractor .. One suggested sandblasting the paint away all the walls and spray the 2 wet walls with some kind of water proofing sealant. leave the other 2 walls without painting.

My other contractor wants to spray the 2 wet walls with sealant as well but simply prime and paint the other 2 walls without removing the old paint!

the price for both job is almost the same. (can i mention price here?!!!)

i know sandblasting does some damage to the walls, but i really don't care ..
i am not so sure about painting on top of old chipped paint although he swears it will stick and will give me a 4 year warranty in writing! would it work?

What is my best option here?

If I was to do the job myself, what would be the best way (product) to seal the wet walls? and best way to remove the old paint? DO the past paint strippers work?

Thanks.

 

Painting brick is one of the dumbest things in the world, second only to wall paper. I like the idea of sand blasting.

Stopping the water from entering is done from the outside, not the inside.

 

I'm with Pulpo - the moisture problem gets fixed by moving water away from the building with grading, gutters, downspout extension,....

I'd remove the paint but I don't know if sandblasting is the right way, brick tends to be too soft