I have some basement walls that I would like to texture. Some of them are “plain” and some have Drylock on them.
These are 1950’s foundation and have cracks and expoxy patches.
The HO is not trying to hide anything and is infact a real estate agent and has before and after pictures and everything showing what was done including the engineer report. Part of the area has been finished, but others need something to help blend in the different textures in the concrete. And in parts of the area the re-inforcement beam are still exposed.
I an wondering what kind of materials can be used? Although they are dry (and varified with a plastic patch test) I am afraid that over the years that any DW mud based product would pick up enough moisture to slouft off.
Replies
Maybe more texture than you are interetsed in achieving, but you may find some product resources applicable nonetheless.
http://www.thestampstore.com/html/vertical_sys_.htm
That is interesting, but you are right it is more texture than I want.
But I see that it is a basically a thin layer. I wish that they had more application information on the web site. There was a guy I saw at the local home show a few years ago doing retaining walls. But I think that he used a form and pour them with the pattern, but I don' tknow how he colored them.
It is a little tricky getting a consistent finish if you haven't done it before but it sounds like you could get some standard stucco mix that gives a sand finish when worked with a wooden float. It is best to do a wall at one time since it is awful hard to feather new texture into old.
If you are new to it, what the hell, it doesn't sound like the HO expects the Taj Mahal.
"If you are new to it, what the hell, it doesn't sound like the HO expects the Taj Mahal."
No, but it is interesting. When I finished I kept telling her that I could do this or do that, but she said no, just keep it plain and get it done. But then as I was nearing completion she saw how nice it was working and wanted to fix some area that would have been easier/better if I had done it that way from the start.
She is a good friend of mine and I think that I ended up making $0.59 on the basement job, but it was the first time that I had tried anything that big in one step.
I really don't want to do the walls, but I know that she is going to do something and I don't want to end up with a mess that yours truly will have to clean up.
There is only one wall that needs to look half-way nice, that is the stairs. But even there it will be far from perfect as you get down to the bottom the finished wall returns into the foundation and you can clearingly see where it is scribed to make the 4" lean in the walls.
Can stucco go right on an old concrete wall like (and over Drylock) with a primer?
I got a stucco style paint on my concrete block, its a waterproofer with a sand aggregate added to the paint. you can texture it too. Made by the sika corp.
http://www.sika.com.au/home/cmc/cmc/Datasheets/tds/Sikagard670W_tds.pdf
Edited 9/6/2004 12:53 pm ET by BROWNBAGG
Hmmm, sounds like you need to find the shortest path out of that basement. Maybe the best thing to do is to use a topping type cement patch mix to fill in and level where you want and take brownbagg's idea of cement paint to cover with a consistent color and texture. I have used Dap's version: http://www.dap.com/techbulletins/00079900.pdf
It quickly covers many sins and bonding is not a problem.
It you do a real stucco job, I think you should use a bonding agent first. The stucco goes on nice if the wall is relatively flat but gets difficult fast if you need to adjust the plane much.
"It you do a real stucco job, I think you should use a bonding agent first. The stucco goes on nice if the wall is relatively flat but gets difficult fast if you need to adjust the plane much. "
My friend keeps talking about "stucconing", but she does not have any idea what she is talking about.
In one of the bedroom she removed wall painter from a wall that had never been primed or sized. Pulled all the paper of the DW. Then tried to skim coat it. While I am not good with mud I did give her some idea to help make it better such as wet "sanding" with a sponge to level out the ridges and a 2nd coat with a SMALL amount of mud to fill the void. But she did not listen.
But I can't complain too much as I depend on her to drive the boat when I water ski <VBG>.
But the stucco paint sound exactly like what I need. Some of Theroseal products look insterseting also.
Now there are 3 walls, plus the stairs so I might do a little experimenting also. Good place for me to practice and learn something new.
I was talking with a friend that does commerical interior work (DW and suspended ceilings) and he suggested using DW also. I (or she) will do the storage area first.
But then I might try DW much on the stairs. That area has been coated with Drylock in the past. Depend on how well the other areas look. If the are real good then I will use that product. But the stair well is what people will see.
Take a look at Thoroseal, a cement based waterproofing.
http://www.chargar.com/ma.htm