I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

On Jun 10, 6:44*pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

No opinions??

Bryan Scholtes wrote:
On Jun 10, 6:44 pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

No opinions??

One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of
impatience may ruin a whole life.

- Chinese proverb

On Jun 10, 6:44*pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

It doesn't look that bad for 50+ years. If the gutters have stopped
the " moist basement problem", whatever that was, I'd go ahead with
what you are proposing.

On Jun 10, 6:44*pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

Have it sand blasted clean and apply foam over the newly sound
concrete. The polyurethane being well bonded to a good substrate will
be a better moisture barrier. Get the grade around the house checked
and corrected as necessary; considering the likely cost of the proper
repairs you won't want to waste it on poor preparation.

Joe

"Bryan Scholtes" wrote in message
...
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

That video looks like it could have been shot in the basement of my previous
home. For 20 years I maintained and cleaned gutters, kept downspouts
directing rain at least 8' away from foundation, tuck pointed and scraped
peeling paint & efflorescence off the walls and never won the battle. Can't
give an accurate opinion on your basement but some old foundations and
basement walls just can't be waterproofed......at least not without a major
investment.

tom wrote:

"Bryan Scholtes" wrote in message
...
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

That video looks like it could have been shot in the basement of my
previous home. For 20 years I maintained and cleaned gutters, kept
downspouts directing rain at least 8' away from foundation, tuck pointed
and scraped peeling paint & efflorescence off the walls and never won
the battle. Can't give an accurate opinion on your basement but some old
foundations and basement walls just can't be waterproofed......at least
not without a major investment.

You CAN'T waterproof a basement wall from the inside, despite what all
the ads say (or a couple regulars on here who swear by the Venice canal
system in their basements.) If the outside of the block is wet on a
regular basis, it WILL act like a cave down there. Proper cure is so
expensive that it is seldom applied- need to dig out the backfill on the
outside and replace (or install) proper waterproofing membrane,
including maybe a layer of that channel stuff, and install or replace
the missing or failed footer-level foundation drain. Then replace
backfill with something that won't hold water against the foundation and
create hydrostatic pressure problems. Not rocket surgery, merely how it
should have been done in the first place. Of course, this means
everything withing 3-6 feet of foundation footprint has to get out of
the way for the duration of the work. Not Cheap Or Easy. But other than
a wet floor from high water table or spring, it will make for a dry
basement, assuming you also do the proper fixes to gutters and finish
grade of yard.

--
aem sends...

I have used Thoroseal on 2 of my basements, it worked pretty good. It
seals the walls and cuts down on the dampness. I then put R-13
insulation and studs with sheetrock, never had a problem since.

On Jun 11, 3:29*am, aemeijers wrote:
tom wrote:

"Bryan Scholtes" wrote in message
...
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

That video looks like it could have been shot in the basement of my
previous home. For 20 years I maintained and cleaned gutters, kept
downspouts directing rain at least 8' away from foundation, tuck pointed
and scraped peeling paint & efflorescence off the walls and never won
the battle. Can't give an accurate opinion on your basement but some old
foundations and basement walls just can't be waterproofed......at least
not without a major investment.

You CAN'T waterproof a basement wall from the inside, despite what all
the ads say (or a couple regulars on here who swear by the Venice canal
system in their basements.) *If the outside of the block is wet on a
regular basis, it WILL act like a cave down there. Proper cure is so
expensive that it is seldom applied- need to dig out the backfill on the
outside and replace (or install) proper waterproofing membrane,
including maybe a layer of that channel stuff, and install or replace
the missing or failed footer-level foundation drain. Then replace
backfill with something that won't hold water against the foundation and
create hydrostatic pressure problems. Not rocket surgery, merely how it
should have been done in the first place. Of course, this means
everything withing 3-6 feet of foundation footprint has to get out of
the way for the duration of the work. Not Cheap Or Easy. But other than
a wet floor from high water table or spring, it will make for a dry
basement, assuming you also do the proper fixes to gutters and finish
grade of yard.

--
aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree. If water is comming through the blcok it will eventually
defeat anything applied to the inside. Might take a while but you
won't want to have that happening inside a wall over the block. If
it's possible to improve the grade outside further and add drains to
carry the gutter water further away you could try that for a while.
If it doesn't dry up then you need to waterproof from the outside. If
the water table is rising enough to cause the problem then there is
not much hope. Does the floor stay dry all year? When you added the
gutters did you also run drains off them well away from the house?
After all those years wihtout gutters was the ground settled directly
around the house? Are you able to maintain a slope away form the
hosue for at least 10' all the way around the perimeter?

On 6/10/2010 11:04 PM, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
On Jun 10, 6:44 pm, Bryan wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

No opinions??

Looked OK to me but I'm just a home owner, not a contractor.
I would want to see whole wall. If not badly cracked, sagging or
bulging, all should be OK.

On Jun 11, 7:15*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Jun 11, 3:29*am, aemeijers wrote:





tom wrote:

"Bryan Scholtes" wrote in message
....
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

That video looks like it could have been shot in the basement of my
previous home. For 20 years I maintained and cleaned gutters, kept
downspouts directing rain at least 8' away from foundation, tuck pointed
and scraped peeling paint & efflorescence off the walls and never won
the battle. Can't give an accurate opinion on your basement but some old
foundations and basement walls just can't be waterproofed......at least
not without a major investment.

You CAN'T waterproof a basement wall from the inside, despite what all
the ads say (or a couple regulars on here who swear by the Venice canal
system in their basements.) *If the outside of the block is wet on a
regular basis, it WILL act like a cave down there. Proper cure is so
expensive that it is seldom applied- need to dig out the backfill on the
outside and replace (or install) proper waterproofing membrane,
including maybe a layer of that channel stuff, and install or replace
the missing or failed footer-level foundation drain. Then replace
backfill with something that won't hold water against the foundation and
create hydrostatic pressure problems. Not rocket surgery, merely how it
should have been done in the first place. Of course, this means
everything withing 3-6 feet of foundation footprint has to get out of
the way for the duration of the work. Not Cheap Or Easy. But other than
a wet floor from high water table or spring, it will make for a dry
basement, assuming you also do the proper fixes to gutters and finish
grade of yard.

--
aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree. *If water is comming through the blcok it will eventually
defeat anything applied to the inside. *Might take a while but you
won't want to have that happening inside a wall over the block. *If
it's possible to improve the grade outside further and add drains to
carry the gutter water further away you could try that for a while.
If it doesn't dry up then you need to waterproof from the outside. *If
the water table is rising enough to cause the problem then there is
not much hope. *Does the floor stay dry all year? *When you added the
gutters did you also run drains off them well away from the house?
After all those years wihtout gutters was the ground settled directly
around the house? *Are you able to maintain a slope away form the
hosue for at least 10' all the way around the perimeter?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for all the help, everyone! Great questions.

The floor stays very dry. In fact, there's been vinyl tile on the
floor for 20+ years and it looks brand new. No peeling, chipping, etc.
In fact the floor is so well adhered I'm going to keep it when I
finish the basement. Too much hassle to tear up. The basement has
never flooded. Ever.

The gutters have 6-foot downspouts - I suppose I can extend them to 10
feet.

The landscaping outside this wall is not graded well. I could do a
better job of that.

I am aware of the futility of waterproofing from the inside. Since the
basement is mostly dry, I was surprised to see the bottom block
curmbling.

Joe wrote:
On Jun 10, 6:44 pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
I want to finish the basement in my 1955 rambler. For the first 50
years, this house had no gutters. When we moved in there was
definitely a moist basement. We put gutters up in 2005.

While clearing away material from the basement walls in preparation
for finishing, I discovered some crumbling near the foundation base.

The concrete blocks have efflorescence. Some of the mortar joints are
crumbling.

The new insulation will be sprayed polyurethane foam, so it will be a
perfect moisture barrier.

What do you think? Is this wall too far gone? Watch my You Tube video
and let me know....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIHm25scHEU

Have it sand blasted clean and apply foam over the newly sound
concrete. The polyurethane being well bonded to a good substrate will
be a better moisture barrier. Get the grade around the house checked
and corrected as necessary; considering the likely cost of the proper
repairs you won't want to waste it on poor preparation.

Sandblasted? 55 year old paint? Lead? Haz Mat crew!

UPDATE -

I went after the crumbles with a wire brush.

Most of the crumbling was old paint & some patch cement that had been
slapped on and decayed.

Only a few parts were of much concern. In these places, the mortar had
gotten very soft. It crushed like chalk. I think there was some bad
mortar, or it decayed over time. Using a masonry bit, I chewed away
the soft mortar. Then I enlarged the hole as prep for some hydraulic
cement patch.

For the worst hole, I drilled through to the block cavity and filled
it with expanding foam. Then I patched with hydraulic cement after the
foam cured.

Overall it's not too bad, really. It wasn't widespread. The blocks
were intact. It was only the mortar that was decaying. We'll see how
it all turns out.