I have paint buckling and cracking on my basement walls due to leaks. What do I scrape it with?

Question

I want to paint it with Dry-loc but don't really know how to make the walls smooth enough to paint so it looks nice and not all bumpy. Any suggetions?

Answer 1

Angelas answer is right on. But Drylock paint will band-aid your problem unless you find a way to keep it from entering in the first place. It will keep water out of the basement but will make the water remain in your wall (assuming you have block walls like me) . Do the Dry-lock, but make sure you try and solve why the water is coming in first by checking the outside of your house (is the grade slopped properly away from the foundation? Are the gutters leaking? If it's an old house, is your palmer valve in the basement floor drain stuck shut like mine and not allowing your drain tiles to empty? etc.)

Answer 2

I was looking at some dry-loc stuff at a hardware store and the guy told me if I had any flaking or powdery looking stuff that I needed to clean my walls with muriatic acid or a cleaner that the dry-loc paint companies make. He said muriatic acid works just as well but is cheaper. But, it does stink so try to have some ventilation and wear a mask & gloves.

Answer 3

to quit the leak interior the fast term purchase a bag of hydraulic cement. it somewhat is likewise common as instant water cement. that's a concrete that instruments very quickly and could easily improve interior the crack sealing it. stick to the instructions on the bag and you'd be wanting to mixture it actual the place you would be employing it as this hardens in 5 minutes or much less. employing a trowel press it into the crack beginning from the backside of the crack and working up. this could seal it for the fast term yet you will nevertheless might desire to dig out the exterior of the wall and fill and seal the exterior of the crack for an prolonged term restoration.

Answer 4

Go to a Home Center or hardware store and get a wire brush with a metal scraper on the end. These are quite common.