Basement wall prep question

so im starting to plan my layout,how should I prep my concrete basement walls, they have occasional holes in them from air, should I just paint over them should I fill the holes, what have others done?

They should be sealed on the outside surface to keep moisture from the backfilled soil out of the basement. Otherwise, frame it and add a poly moisture barrier over the framing, and then add gyproc.

If that is too involved and expensive, you could see if some smaller milled lumber could be fixed vertically at regular intervals and then cover them with wallboard.

-Crandell

Sealing the basement from the outside is a good suggestion but, in most cases, it is too expensive and impractical to go this route on an existing home as opposed to new construction. Most foundations are “damp proofed” rather than “water proofed” at the time they are poured. As a result, water infiltration and dampness can be an ongoing problem.

In my case, I did have occasional “sweating” of the basement walls at least once a year following really heavy rainstorms, particularly in the areas where the foundation forms were joined together by metal rods during intial construction. My solution was to “paint” the basement walls with a product called Drylox manufactured by a company called UGL.

Drylox is a latex base masonry waterproofer paint that comes in three colors: gray, blue and white. It can be tinted if other colors are desirable. It is realtively odorless and non-flammable. According to the manufacturer, it is guaranteed to stop water and withstands up to 10 pounds of hydrostatic pressure.

I applied Drylok with a wallpaper paste brush rather than a traditional paint brush because it is quite thick. I used gray which provides a nice neutral background. I then used Liquid Nails to apply Masonite board to the painted basement wall and painted in blue as a background.

Drylox was thick enough to smooth out the craters and crevices and apparently is an effective water proofer because I haven’t experienced any dampness or sweating in the four years tha

Ditto the Drylok(x). If you want to use the walls as a backdrop, a finish coat of plaster could be applied to cover the “holes”. Then paint “sky” blue. [:)]

Yes, dealing with the moisture should be your primary concern. Also, take a look at the ceiling. If it’s open rafters, consider adding a ceiling of some sort (either sheetrock or a hanging tile system.) This will greatly reduce the dust level falling on the layout. Consider your electrical outlets and lighting at this time, too. All of this will not only make your layout-building more pleasant, it will add value to your home as well.

Think about the background for your railroad. Some just use the bare walls and don’t worry about it, but other modellers paint the walls with a background scene and sky. A smooth curved “cove” rounding out the corners is a nice touch, particularly when doing photography. There are also several manufacturers who make background “wallpaper” scenes you can put up behind the layout.

Finishing a basement can be very expensive if you do it the PROPER way. If your basement doesn’t leak then get a good concrete paint and do the walls and floor. If it leaks then get it fixed. Once that is done then start with laying 1 inch pink interlocking foam boards on the floor and 2 inch pink interlocking foam boards on the walls. Once that is done caulk every single crack you see around windows, around the floor beams and the seam where the floor and wall meet with spray foam. Now you can tape every seam on the pink foam boards. Once that is done then you can lay your floor with interlocking 1/4 inch plywood and frame the walls. This is the proper way to insulate a basement that has a lot of humidity and temperature changes like I do in Southern Ontario. Don’t use the fiberglass batt’s in the basement. They will hold a ton of water over time which will lead to mildew issues down the road. Besides that you must make sure your vapour barrier doesn’t have any holes in it which is near impossible. If it even has a hole the size of a pin it can cause water from humidity to build up in the walls. Mike Holmes from the TV show Holmes on Homes taught me how to do a basement PROPERLY and if you ever watch his show then you know he knows what he is talking about.

Do you know if you already have a moisture problem? You can take a one foot square sheet of thick clear plastic and duct tape it to the concrete wall (and floor) in your basement. Come back in a week and see if there is moisture between the concrete and the plastic. If you have moisture, then you may need to consult a waterproofing professional. In my basement, I used Drylok on one wall that had some seepage issues and it has been dry for 6+ years. I completely finished my basement, so over the concrete walls I used a thick poly sheeting vapor barrier (all seams taped) then framed out stud walls about 3" in front of the concrete perimeter walls, then did drywall and a suspended ceiling. Used the same poly sheeting on the floor then installed a laminate flooring. Jamie

There are many ways to attack this problem depending on the type of foundation, depth into the grade, amount and height of ground water (watertable) and runoff.

Regardless of poured concrete, concrete block or stone “rubble” wall constuction the use of a sealer, like Dryloc, is a must. Of coarse the best results are sealing a poured concrete wall. I have seen unsealed poured foundations 6 ft into grade that are dry as a bone and also ones that at 3-4 ft sweat, periodically seap or even flood due to groundwater and runoff conditions.

Waterproofing a wet foundation from the inside is a difficult project and many time futile. It is like patching a leaking boat w/ bandaids from the inside.

Some of the first steps to take is to change any rain/ gutter and downspout runoff. Extreme cases of exteme watertable will require a sump pump. The use of a pump would be good insurance even for that ocational rise in groundwater.

Rubble walls and some concrete block can be the most difficult to deal with if extreme water conditions exist from time to time. Even the best repairs to these type of walls and proper sealing, can still have future leaks due to continued settling and movement of the stone/masonry. I am basing much of this from considerable work on foundations in New England where some homes seem to almost been built into the water table.

Chronic leaks at bulkheads and under existing concrete patio slabs can be slowed or solved by hydrolic cement repair. This can be quite $$$ and should only be performed by a proven contractor.

Some talk of perimeter drains. Do use care if this is considered as part of a solution. Perimeter piping and gravel can act 2 ways. You can inadvertently end up with more water under heavy wet conditions from water filling the gravel “moat” that has been created. Heavy rains and dounspout runoff shed better with go

thanks for the replies thankfuly water is not a problem, the concrete is smooth but theres an occasional hole or air bubble here and there that I want to fill, I’m leaning towards painting the concrete. i might put clear plastic to cover hte ceiling but I want the area accessible in case I want to add more lighting or more electrical outlets

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is testing your basement for radon before you do any finishing work that would make it difficult to access any cracks, etc. that may be in your basement walls or floor. Radon test kits can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot or you may be able to get them free at your local health dept. If you get a reading on the test of greater than 4 pico curies/liter you may need to consider having remediation work done by a local licensed radon remediation contractor.

When I tested our basement before I had it finished, the reading came in around 25-30 pico curies/liter. After I had it remediated, which involved sealing the joint between the walls and the floor and any other cracks and holes in the floor and walls and having a exhaust blower installed on the existing passive radon vent coming out of the sub-floor slab area, the radon level dropped to approximately 2 pico curies/liter. I have read that radon causes the second largest number of cases of lung cancer after tobacco smoking. If you smoke and are exposed to radon it increases your risk for lung cancer even more.

Re moisture: When I had our house built I had the portion of the basement wall that was to be below grade waterproofed. Most of our basement wall is above grade and whole rear wall of the basement is a frame wall to give us a daylight walk-out basement. From late May thru September, when humidity is high in our area, I run a dehumidifier in the basement. Doing this, I can keep the relative humidity at or below 50% during that period. The basement is heated and air conditioned so this also helps.

Hope this helps,

Bob

I’ve done what your planning in a couple of houses I’ve lived in. I don’t remember exactly what I filled the holes with but it was just some type of concrete patch material. I used basement wall paint from Sears and it worked great. They had a special roller for this paint as it is thick. I used a very coarse brush where the roller didn’t fit. The paint had a strong odor to it so open some windows and use a fan.

Ed

“gyproc” seems to be a European term (or possibloy a brand name) for the more common “sheetrock.” A Bing search brought up a company in Dublin, Ireland. Sheetrock comes in may grades, and what I used, and would recommend, is the moisture resistant or “green sheetrock,” which is the color of the facing paper. Even if your basement is dry, being below grade is a potential for moisture. Although I’ve never used it (and first heard it advertised right after I finished my layout room [sigh]), you should also look into the mold resistant sheetrock. It may be overkill, but I sealed the walls before the framing, and any framing pieces that touch the wall or floor are pressure treated lumber.

I go along with much that has been suggested already, but would suggest the use of horizontally laid Luan wood sheets, screwed to 1"x2" that have been liquid glued to the walls.(Luan is flexible enough to form curved corners. Luan will not become moldy, as drywall will. I started the background at the top of the layout, with cove molding framing the suspended insulation tile ceiling, with 10 random textured plastic light filters and double tube shop lights for illumination. If I were to do it again, I would suggest the use of canister lighting, which can be dimmed and is not temperature sensitive. Bob Hahn

Ditto that. Mike is a Builder/Contractor that really knows his stuff. He just about ALWAYS goes above and beyond the minimum building code requirements (particularly here in Ontario) because he believes that most of the code is inadequate in today’s environment. He also believes that ALL builders and renovation contractors should be licensed and be held accountable for their mistakes.

If you do any renovations or have them done for you, make sure that you get any perm

Or drywall.

EDIT:

I’m guessing it’s short for Gypsum Board drywall.

The green sheets that surrounds showers and tubs is more moisture resistant. It is considerably more expensive than it’s regular sheetrock board.

You might want to set aside some $$$ to buy a dehumidifier also. I’ve found basement humidities can vary a LOT even when finished / DryLock painted walls, etc.

If it turns out you don’t need to buy one, you can use the $$$ for more trains. [;)]

I would agree about the dehumidifier. All the other things said are very valid, of course. I purchased a portable 2 or 3 gallon tank capacity dehumidifier at Walmart (<$60) for the basement; I was floored how much water it put out! Since this is a second home, I bypassed the tank and had a drainage hose divert the runoff directly into an adjacent stall shower (since I’m not around to empty the tank). The basement smells fresh (no vague smell of mustiness) and the humidity is now in the very acceptable range. This home was built brand new about 5 yrs ago and is dry–no leakage or seeating that I can see. Still, the humidifer makes a world of difference!

Bryan

Before you put up stud walls and the concrete walls become hidden for ever, you should look for the ends of the snap ties. Those are the metal rods that hold the two sides of the forms together when the concrete is poured. They break them off to remove the forms but that leaves many metal rods through the concrete from one side to the other. They will rust over the years and let water leak through. Of course, if your walls are concrete block, you won’t have snap ties and if the exterior was waterproofed with a membrane, you won’t have the problem either. I plugged the snap tie ends and any other holes I found with something called hydraulic cement before I put up the stud walls. That was almost 30 years ago so my memory of it is a bit hazy but I recall it was a putty-like substance that I just jammed into the depressions and smoothed flat. The nice thing about hydraulic cement is that you can use it even if water is leaking through the hole. It should be good for plugging any holes and depressions in a concrete wall as I recall that it was easy to work with.

I would glue drywall to them.