JayTKR wrote:
I have a house that I am going to be renting out that has a basement with
poured concrete walls and a concrete floor. The basement doesn't flood,
but it does have a sump pump, and the pump does pump out water from under
the slab, especially after a heavy rain. I don't want to refinish the
basement, but I do want to clean up the way it looks a little and eliminate
that slight musty smell. The basement is very high, clean, spacious, and
nice.

There is no detectable moisture that comes through the walls or the floors.
I tested this using the "tape and seal a piece of aluminum foil" trick on
the walls and the floor. After a few days, when the taped and sealed foil
is removed there is no moisture there. Despite all of this, there is a
VERY
SLIGHT musty smell in the basement -- it is almost undetectable, but it's
there.

The house has an electric heat pump HVAC system. There are no intake or
supply vents in any of the HVAC ducts in the basement. My plan is to have
an HVAC person cut in some intake and supply vents so the basement will be
served by the HVAC the way the rest of the house is. I think that alone
will probably eliminate the slight musty smell in the basement.

I did the "acid wash" (or whatever it is called) on the walls and then
painted them with a very light blue DryLock paint just as an extra
sealer on
the walls. I have more than enough DryLock paint left to also do the
floor.

I now want to paint the floor -- either with just latex porch and floor
paint, or with the DryLock paint first and then with latex porch and floor
paint on top of that.

My inclination is to do the floor with the DryLock paint first, and then
paint over that with latex porch and floor paint.

Is that okay?


If you must use the DryLock paint, I would be careful to follow label
instructions. As for musty smell, with little moisture in the basement,
simply improving ventilation seems key. Got appliances in b'ment?
Windows you can open?