semi-new shop - paint question

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  • durango dude
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2011
    • 934
    • a thousand or so feet above insanity
    • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

    semi-new shop - paint question

    My shop is in a corner of the basement - with cinder block walls. The heavy rains of spring forced me to empty out the shop. It wasn't bad ---- just noticiable.
    I contracted with some waterproofers to build a drain tile system - they said that should help lots.
    .
    The waterproofers are finishing up next week (drain tile inside, and re-pitch surface exterior). I've scraped all the walls to get rid of the mineral deposits and bad paint.

    Question is ------ what paint do I use to repaint the shop?

    I want something that is tintable, so I can paint the walls a light grey.

    One place says "Kilz" --- another says "drylock" ---- and another says "Valspar"

    There was originally a coat of waterproofing on the wall. Most of it is still there --- but a few spots have bubbled out. I scraped them down.

    I want something with a light color (keep the shop as bright as possible with the 1 basement window). I also want something durable (it's a shop) - and most important - something that
    will keep the wall in decent condition.
    Last edited by durango dude; 07-27-2020, 02:12 PM.
  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    #2
    Basement walls are in a class by themselves when it comes to paint coatings. In my real job I was responsible for 100k’s sf of basement walls and have seen about every kind of failure possible. When it comes to sealants, and waterproofing I’m not sure that there is a real problem solver. The manufacturers would like you to believe it is but These are working on the wrong side of the wall to fix a problem. If your wall is saturated with enough water to damage the coating..... it’s still saturated..... that’s the problem. Oil, epoxy or latex all seem to work well on dry walls, so if you are satisfied they are dry just pick what you like. In my shop, which has OSB walls and any paint would had sufficed, I purchased Boo-Boo paint from the Porter Paint store. ( Boo-Boo paint is those gallons that the tinting didn’t come out right and the customer refused purchase ) @ $5.00 gallon for premium paint. I chose light tinted colors, with some green, blues and reds, and had them dump it in 5 gallon buckets and mix it well. The color turned out a pleasant light green that reminded me of school hall paint. Several years later I opened up an addition room on my shop and did the same paint ritual again. I didn’t care what the color was and wasn’t anticipating any kind of match. Surprise, I couldn’t tell any difference in the colors. I’m sure that if I dead a paint smear on the other wall there was a difference but it was indistinguishable to a casual glance. I definately suggest this procedure for paint Colors of a shop.

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    • twistsol
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2002
      • 2892
      • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
      • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

      #3
      Really it comes down to if your basement walls are dry or not now. If they're dry, pretty much any paint is going to stick and last a while. If it isn't dry, no paint or epoxy will stick to it for long.
      Chr's
      __________
      An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
      A moral man does it.

      Comment

      • cwsmith
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2005
        • 2737
        • NY Southern Tier, USA.
        • BT3100-1

        #4
        Personal experience as a homeowner has taught me that the interior paint, within reason, is nowhere close to importance as what is happening with the wall itself and what kind of exterior coating or membrane it has to keep the moisture from ever penetrating to begin with. It's sort of like keeping a sponge dry... do you want the sealant on the side of the sponge that faces the moisture and keeps the sponge from soaking it up, or do you want to try to place the sealant on the sponge after it is soaked?

        If you can seal the wall on the outside and keep the moisture from penetrating the concrete, than almost any heavy paint will work well on the wall. However, if the wall is wet, then you will always have the challenge of keeping the interior paint from flaking or bubbling.

        Once you have your walls properly sealed (outside) and painted (inside), then I highly recommend using a dehumidifier, especially if you are in warm and humid environments.

        Not an expert, but experience has taught me,

        CWS
        Think it Through Before You Do!

        Comment

        • leehljp
          Just me
          • Dec 2002
          • 8429
          • Tunica, MS
          • BT3000/3100

          #5
          Cinder block walls: I have wondered about this before on several occasions - do the leaks occur at masonry joints or at any place on the cinder block walls? the reason I ask is - If it is anywhere, can holes be drilled and the interior of blocks be filled with expanding foam insulation material? That would cut down on 90% of the moisture leaking.

          Just thinking without any experience.
          Hank Lee

          Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

          Comment

          • durango dude
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2011
            • 934
            • a thousand or so feet above insanity
            • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

            #6
            Waterproofers remedy moisture by giving it a new path of travel.

            The theory is that water flows instead of building up and penetrating the water-venerable wall.

            Instead of having water build up in the home walls, the water flows out of a hole drilled at the bottom of the block wall.

            From there, the water goes into a drain tile ---- to the sump pump - and then out of the home.

            (waterproofers also work to reduce the amount of fluid entering the walls to begin with --- in my case - by re-grading)

            All of this is to say that I"m guessing injecting foam would not work.

            After talking to a few people, I'm just going to buy 3 gallons of Valspar and be done.


            Consumer Reports says don't waste money with primer. The wall has already been sealed - there's just spots where the water was stronger.
            Now that I've addressed that problem - I think just plain old paint should work.

            Last edited by durango dude; 07-28-2020, 10:13 PM.

            Comment

            • capncarl
              Veteran Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 3564
              • Leesburg Georgia USA
              • SawStop CTS

              #7
              Cinder blocks (CMU, concrete masonry units) are generally made out of “fluffy” lightweight concrete and are basically a concrete sponge. The blocks actually transmit moisture easier than the mortar joints. Basements do not generally have the dirt side mortar joints struck so they obsorb moisture more than a traditional cinder block wall with both sides mortar joins struck. Basements are one part of residential construction that I think need the building code strictly enforced, and maybe even re- written to address moisture problems such as this. I can’t imagine cinder blocks to be an ideal wall material for a basement..... except it is cheaper than formed and poured concrete basement walls.

              Comment

              • woodturner
                Veteran Member
                • Jun 2008
                • 2047
                • Western Pennsylvania
                • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

                #8
                Originally posted by durango dude

                After talking to a few people, I'm just going to buy 3 gallons of Valspar and be done.

                I have had good results with the Valspar rubberized paint. Seems to work pretty well, a little work to put it on because it is thick and has to be worked into the crevices, but seals well and provides a little texture that makes the block look better.

                It also successfully fixed some minor moisture and condensation issues I had.
                --------------------------------------------------
                Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

                Comment

                • cwsmith
                  Veteran Member
                  • Dec 2005
                  • 2737
                  • NY Southern Tier, USA.
                  • BT3100-1

                  #9
                  When I was about ten years old, my Mom and Dad had a house built in the country. Actually, they had met a farmer who had started building houses on some of his farm land and he told my Dad he'd gladly build one for him too. My Dad made only a couple of adjustments to the plans and several months later we moved out of the city. Danny, the farmer cut a lot of corners as he was by no means a professional builder. But his houses were quite affordable for folks like my parents. Much of the lumber was cut from the land he owned and he obviously got some real bargains when he bought materials... stuff that later showed up with warping here and there, etc. Still, it proved a decent house and my kid brother still lives there.

                  But to the point, that basement is cinder blocks and the house is right on the side of a hill with nothing behind it but woods and rocks, with a few springs to boot. One spot in the back yard seemed to heave up several inches in the winter, and later we found that was from the water rising near the surface and freezing. Yet, the cellar walls never leaked. Because of previous experience with the half-dozen other houses that Danny had built along that stretch of road, he started coating the outside of the blocks with a tar-like material and on top of that a membrane that looked like plastic or rubber material. In any case, no leakage and I don't recall the interior wall ever being painted. Basically, the basement was cold though and in the humidity of summer, we kept the basement windows closed.

                  After about ten years of so, we got a horizontal crack on that side of the cellar wall. That's when my Dad had the back yard dug up and we laid drainage tires from there through the side yard to the downhill side of the lot. Dad mortared the wall, and nothing major has happened since, as far as I know.

                  CWS
                  Think it Through Before You Do!

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