I'm looking for ideas on how to remove paint from my basement walls. I recently found I have a leaky foundation due to a crack and want to use the Drylok paint to seal it up, but it needs to be applied over a bare masonry surface in order for it to seal up the foundation. In the process of un-finishing my basement, I found some one in the past had painted the cinder block walls. (My walls are/were framed, rocked and plastered so I had no idea)

Keep in mind, I have an entire basement to do, so cost is somewhat of a factor. Also I have two little daughters in the house, so something that isn't going to kill us all would be preferred as well.

Any suggetions for me?

Jeff

Any suggetions for me?

Jeff

Move? ;)

Use a wire weel and clean off the area around the crack and then patch it with the Drylock fast plug

Then a good cleaning with a wire brush and their etching compound should suffice for the rest of the area. You can apply ther latex paint over exisiting paint if you have to

Nothing you do will remove all the paint, esp out of the pores in the blocks, so get what you can and forget about the rest

Jeff. I'd say, call your school board or city maintenance department and ask what they use to remove graffiti. Years ago I worked for a school maintenance department. We had a spray that you sprayed on and then hosed off. It had to be "non toxic" to be used around schools. I don't remember what it was though.

I agree with Byfield. Anything that you would spray on the block to remove any existing coating would prevent any future coating from bonding to the block. Especially on something as pourous as concrete block. I would use no kind of cemicals, mechanical removal only.

Move? ;)

Use a wire weel and clean off the area around the crack and then patch it with the Drylock fast plug

Then a good cleaning with a wire brush and their etching compound should suffice for the rest of the area. You can apply ther latex paint over exisiting paint if you have to

Nothing you do will remove all the paint, esp out of the pores in the blocks, so get what you can and forget about the rest

Already own the lot. We were supposed to have built this year, but with dad dying and all , we decided to put that on hold for a year or two and get things taken care of. I really don't need the hassle of building mixed in with everything else that is going on right now.

I was wondering if the etching acid would do the job alright or not, I kind of figured it would. The majority of the area around the leak the paint is peeling right off, most be from all the moisture there.

I'm kind of hoping to have at least half my basement back to functional before christmas.

On the bright side I am getting a really nice new home office and a media room area out of it:thumbsup:

Jeff

Jeff. I'd say, call your school board or city maintenance department and ask what they use to remove graffiti. Years ago I worked for a school maintenance department. We had a spray that you sprayed on and then hosed off. It had to be "non toxic" to be used around schools. I don't remember what it was though.

I found a product on the net for just that, but it's $139 a gallon. My house isn't real big at all, but I would still need a number of gallons I would estimate.

Jeff

The majority of the area around the leak the paint is peeling right off, most be from all the moisture there.


Reall check the directions on the drylock products. Some of them have to be put on over dry surfaces or they won't adhear

Sandblast it. :thumbsup:

Sweeping up sand is easy and non-toxic. Works like a charm.

Sandblast it. :thumbsup:

Sweeping up sand is easy and non-toxic. Works like a charm.


oh no its not..... on either case, sand is heavy and the silica from the sand can harm lungs and cause silicosis, a lung disease that scars the lung tissue and will continue to do so everytime you take a breath...... but that would have been my suggestion, get the family out for the weekend, get some resperators and sandblast it :(

What about a pressure washer or steam cleaner?

If it won't ruin anything else you can also get a pressure washer that blasts sand with the water. It's used for cleaning graffiti off bricks.

I'm thinking sandblaster nsde the house would put sand everywhere-even with changing the furnace filters a lot.

I'm thinking an angle grinder with a large wire wheel.

use a grinder with a masonary disk to clean areas (pores and all) where applying sealer, just paint over the rest

use a grinder with a masonary disk to clean areas (pores and all) where applying sealer, just paint over the rest


That was actually going to be tomorrows attempt. I think a masonry disk will actually remove the paint fairly quickly. I don't even like sandblasting in my garage because of the mess, I really don't want to in my house if I can avoid it.

Thanks for all the tips,

Jeff