Best way to treat the concrete basement walls in my LongIsland NY home
by
Liz Steffens
+4
The walls are poured concrete built in 1937 and they are flaking off, probably due to humidity. I have used a humidifer for years and it has helped but I think it is some kind of white or yellow powdery action going on under the waterproof paint I have used.
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The powdery stuff is called efflorescence.
Here's an article on the subject from the Masonry Institute... https://www.masonryinstitute.org/pdf/612.pdf
We had this on a previous Long Island home. We used a dehumidifier all summer, and a mason told us to do whatever we could to keep soil adjacent to foundation dry. We used downspout extenders to move water away, and tried to plant shrubs with low water requirements near the foundation. We lived there a long time, and the problem didn't seem to progress. Read up on it before you take any other action.
it's called effervesence{ mind spelling}.Anyways scrape off what you can ..Go to home depot and get Drylock paint apply with roller.There ya go!
You might need to get it Tanked by the Professionals
Scrub flakes off real good, put a sealer on and paint if you use your basement as a rec room, Good luck!
http://easythings.org/efflorescence-concrete-brickwork-causes-remover-prevention
Thank you everyone for your input. I will now work on my walls with confidence that I know what I am doing. Wish me luck.