My house has a small extension to the foundation made with what appear to be cinder-blocks. The resulting surfaces (three walls) are quite rough, daubed with spattered concrete bits, and are generally a pain to clean and refuge for the occasional insect.
I’m not exactly sure what I can do with it. The only option I’ve come up with so far is to
[ul]
[li]Fill any large cracks with silicone[/li][li]Spread/brush on topping cement (aka Top 'N Bond) over the whole deal to make a smooth-ish surface[/li][li]Paint with a thick paint[/li][/ul]
In case it matters, the operation is somewhat complicated by the fact that my stairs come down one side, and water / gas pipes cross the other wall to the washer and dryer.
Is there anything else anyone can recommend?
(and if a mod wants to move this to IMHO, feel free)
Google “cover basement walls” and you’ll get a ton of ideas.
Generally speaking you can attach wood strips to the bricks, then place drywall over that. On the side with pipes, one solution is to simply add a wall creating a 2 feet (or so) wide room that hides all the pipes and stuff, also giveing you a little storage closet.
I agree with Enright3 put up drywall. It will look better it will be easier to paint etc. You also might want to look into putting a little insulation behind the drywall it will make the basement more comfortable.
Is any portion of the above referenced wall areas below grade? If so, installation of drywall, even MR or greenboard without a vapor barrier invites growth of mold on the hidden side.
Using a brick chisel and hammer, you can knock off the mortar droppings to create a smoother plane. Then, you can finish with UGL Drylok (available at big box stores and many paint dealers), or if you’d like to apply a parging coat to create a smoother interior surface, consider some of the products made by Thoro Systems or Conproco.
Hmm. Lots of good ideas. I’d say there’s at least 4’ of wall below grade. I think I’d like to stay away from drywall if possible - it seems more expensive, and the area is (didn’t think to measure it last night) perhaps 2m wide by 3m deep (6 1/2’ x 10’), meaning that with the stairs and the washer/dryer, there’s not much room to spare.
(This is also going to be 100% DIY, and paint-type applications seem easier to me).
I’ll see what the local stores have, and also check out what bashing with a hammer does to clean things up.
Thx!
The foundation of my house is fairly rough stone. I recently finished one room down there by putting up a plastic moisture barrier, furring strips using Tapcon screws, 1/2 inch styrofoam insulation and panelling, which I installed using nails and construction adhesive. The panelling is thinner and somewhat more moisture-resistant than drywall, and I didn’t have to tape, mud, sand and paint it.
As already mentioned by others, the block fill types of paints is a good solution.
A little tip: Don’t caulk first. Use two coats of block fill. Fill in with caulk any small gaps you see between painting the two coats. Prep. paint, then caulk, then paint a second time. The caulk won’t stick well to untreated cinder block as time (and moisture) goes by.
And if it were my place, I wopuld probably spray an epoxy over the block fill, but that’s not a very DIY thing to do.
As for the caulk used, just about any should do a good job on those small gaps. If you really have a hankering to use silicon, make sure to buy a paintable kind. I would probably use a paintable elastomeric myself. Like Solar Seal. Good stuff. Not meant for huge holes, btw. Fix those.
After block filling, you can then paint over that with a finish paint. That way, you can choose your colours and sheens. Though it will look tacky, I would probably want to use a semi-gloss finish. Rememebr, any step up in sheens will show up imperfections and differences in materials more, but in a basement, who cares? I would want the higher sheen finish. But having a nice base of a good block fill type product as your wall primer means that finishing out with a good quality latex shoiuldn’t cause a problem. You can also mix in different additives to the top coat for protection against molds and bugs. Ask your specialty paint store for specifics of your area and what brands they carry.