I have a new construction home I am building in Michigan with poured concrete foundation walls. I plan to paint the walls in the spring. What is the best type of paint to use on this new concrete?
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Replies
New Construction poured concrete foundation walls
I was planning to paint the inside of the basement walls. I dont believe I need a water sealing product, but because I get one shot at having bare concrete I was wondering if it was worth the money?
What do you mean "get one
What do you mean "get one shot"? There's no point in painting any part of the foundation that will be covered, and any below-grade water sealing should be done as a separate step.
New construction poured concrete foundation walls
I will have an unfinished basement and am just trying to determne the best paint to use on the walls, it will be on new concrete. MY comment about one shot is because a product like DryLock works best on new concrete versus painted surface. Just trying to get ideas on type of paint, whether is shoud be just primer and latex or use a water sealer type like drylock?
Despite claims by outfits like DryLok, one should never expect an interior masonry paint to be an effective "waterproof" treatment. Especially in new construction, water problems should be dealt with via proper treatments on the OUTSIDE.
what claims?
What claims?Drylock's manufacturer warranty is limited to 10 years...and only the cost of the material used. It specifically excludes labor and subsequent damages. Big Deal. It also excludes leaks due to recurring efflorescence. That's an important distinction because this is concrete and masonry paint. Efflourescence is caused by the movement of moisture through masonry. Therefore, technically speaking , if you have moisture moving through a masonry foundation, then this warranty is void. So what should be the expectations of this product for waterproofing leaky masonry foundations based on it's warranty (and not marketing literature)? Virtually none.
Having said that, I do agree with Dan that water [moisture] problems should primarily be dealt with from the exterior of the building envelope. However, that does not mean that interior moisture proofing isn't a viable option if an appropriate product or system is properly utilized.
What was the reason?
Again, (as Dan already asked), what is the reason you would like to paint the concrete in your new, unfinished basement?
Bad Idea
Painting basement walls is a bad idea. Yet, I can see your desire for a "brighter, cleaner, more friendly" basement. Just don't expect fine art!
Even in "dry" areas, there is moisture in the ground - moisture that will want to pass through the walls. That's one reason basements tend to be more humid that the house above. Plus, curing concrete actually creates water- and concrete can take months to "completely" cure.
I assume the outside of the walls will be 'parged,' that is, coated with a waterproof barrier. That will greatly reduce the issue, but not eliminate it.
What I would suggest is that you have the concrete sprayed with a concrete sealer as soon as the forms are removed. That will greatly reduce the amount of 'dusting' from the concrete. Then later, if you must, paint with a very light coat of ordinary latex paint. Such will allow some moisture to pass through. It's the moisture in the concrete, and the dusting, that leads to paint failure.
Not necesssarily true.
DanH wrote:
Fresh concrete will leach lime for a considerable period of time, and many regular paints will not adhere well.
I'd be careful about making blanket statements like this. This is not necessarily the case if the concrete is properlty mixed and placed...and moisture is not continuoulsy being forced through the material (i.e. hydrostatic pressure or evaporation).
Since free paint is readily available on craigslist , etc, the last basement I pour I applied 4 coats of vinyl acrylic to the exterior, has worked well, no interior moisture and the ground water level was 2 ft above basement floor when we dug the foundation.
Have painted the interior concrete on everything from a 120 YO house to own house with good results, I even paint the basements and garage floors with latex paint. Wears off before it has any other problem.
Have never had any problems with using latex on concrete, works well. Best applied with airless sprayer.
I even paint asphalt roofs with latex paint, does a great job of extending the roof life. Not cost effective if you need to buy (urk, gag) paint. One CL contact is a pro painting contractor, he will give me all the free leftover paint I want.
new construction poured concrete foundation walls
I am planning to paint the interior basement wall just to brighten up the space. The outside basement wall has a water proof tar application and drain tile in crushed rock near footings so I should have good drainage. What do you think about staining the walls, i was planning to stain the floor
best?
Can't tell you what the "best" is. I can tell you what I just did in my own basement.
Built my house years ago. Basement walls had always been bare concrete. Never sealed or detailed in any way. No moisture issues. I'm doing some work down there now, and I wanted to brighten the walls up. I looked at paints, stains, waterproofing coatings, etc, etc.
I used Drylok. Did the work a couple of months ago.
Two coats with a thick nap roller with a little smooshing of the roller thrown in here and there filled all the nooks and crannies in the walls.
I plan on keeping it bright white, but Drylok can be covered with laxet paint.
When I was doing my research, I called tech support and they said Drylok can be tinted/colored. They have a few "official" tints. But they said that Behr, for example has 30-something colors for their basement paint/waterproofing/whatever. The UGL techster said that you could, for example, go to Home Depot, pick out a Behr color, and have the paint department color Drylok to the Behr pigment formulation.
Again, I stuck with Drylok white.
FWIW, I just epoxied 600 sqft of the basement floor today. 100% solids epoxy in an off-white color. Went on easy, but it stinks to high heaven, even with a low-VOC formulation.
Whitewash
Look up a good bill of materials to make whitewash. A little glue, some salt, lime and water, that's probably all you need.