We seeem to have some unusual “growths” in our basement. I’m no expert, but I think it may just be efflorescence. The “growths” that are older, are rock hard. The newer stuff crumbles very easily and doesn’t appear to be organic.
The key question is, what do I do about this? We had been getting some water seepage in the basement, which I think we have fixed with landscaping and better placement of gutter runoffs.
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Leave it, and tell people that its a science project.
that's what I do when someone looks in my refrigerator.
As an experiment, he could try washing it down with a 10% muratic acid
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That's not that old spray foam the previous HO's used to seal the cracks, is it?
No, it is definitely a different consistency than spray foam. Some of it is rock hard, too. I don't think spray foam ever gets that hard.
Looks like Laker yellow.
Don't tell me a CeltsFan has a house that bleeds Laker yellow? This is worse than the Amityville Horror!
what kind of foundation wall is that?
efflorescence is norm,ally always white or grey, but it happens where water moving through masonry picks up mineral salts and leeches them to the surfacce.
So if this is a very old stone ruble wall, it could be that you are leaching sulphur or other coloured distilates through it.
regardless of what it is, if it is not organic, your main concern should be to prevent that water from moving through the wall as it can cause other problems
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It's a very old foundation, nearly 100 years old. It seems to be concrete block on part of it, and maybe stone on the bottom.
I think th e colour is just mineral staining in the efflorescence
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Studying that photo more - if that is typical of the entrire celler wall, notice that most of the colour is at a level about 18" to 30" below soil surface outside.
So be sure to get your new drain lines out there at least that low to carry water to daylight or sump away.
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as others have said, efflorescents is white or grey. That looks like urethane or epoxy injection. Typically it's done from the inside of the basement, there will be concrete patches, or small "grease" nipples screwed into the concrete where it is injected.
Looks remarkably similar to life forms on a Star Trek episode.
I believe they used phasers set on max.
Had similar stuff in my 1902 built house in Pgh when I moved in,
everyone thought it was a foam sealant, never grew or got worse.
Sorry, I should try to be more helpful.
The basement I had (1982) looked just like yours, stone wall foundation, loose mortar painted white, etc. The yellow stuff was solid.
Since I couldn't get a definitive answer, I used a mortar mix to redo the walls, which contained fiberglass,
a product I used in the coal mine to skim/seal block walls.
No further alien intrusion for the next 8 yrs at which point the
house, vacant, was destroyed in a fire, insurance refused to pay.
My fault for not minding it better but was out of state.
Efflorescence is a white, powdery deposit; it's caused when water carries soluble salts to the surface.
I think what you have are calcium carbonate stains. They are hard encrustations that have desolved from the mortar because of the presence of water. It takes a lot of water to create these stains, so they are a sign that you have a serious water problem. The measures you have already taken should take care of the problem. They can be cleaned with muriatic acid.
Edited 7/9/2008 1:22 pm ET by Mudslinger