# Concrete Waterproofing



## venetian designs (Nov 24, 2007)

Hey guys,
This is my house, not a customer's. I want to make the stairs to the basement and the side concrete walls nicer. As soon as the weather is nice, I will grind down the imperfections, acid etch everything, waterproof it and possibly epoxy coat it. My question is, what is the best waterproofer out there? When raining heavily, the concrete seems to have water soaking through it from the inside out. I never get to use those coatings and I know some of you are more experienced. Also, will epoxy coating work on the vertical surfaces? I attached a few pics.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Exterior + Epoxy = Failure

If it were me, I would use a waterproofing product like Drylok or similar. Then a topcoat of exterior latex of your choice.

Maybe instead of grinding it down to even it out....why not do stucco or some kind of knock down?


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## venetian designs (Nov 24, 2007)

NCPaint1 said:


> Exterior + Epoxy = Failure
> 
> If it were me, I would use a waterproofing product like Drylok or similar. Then a topcoat of exterior latex of your choice.
> 
> Maybe instead of grinding it down to even it out....why not do stucco or some kind of knock down?


I thought about stucco, but I'm afraid it won't stick long term. What about the stairs?


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

venetian designs said:


> I thought about stucco, but I'm afraid it won't stick long term. What about the stairs?


Acid Stain. Any film forming coating on the stairs could potentially peel or become a slip hazard.


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## Wolverine (Apr 17, 2007)

> Exterior + Epoxy = Failure


This isn't exactly true... I guess it depends on how you define failure. 

Epoxy is the strongest bond that you're going to get. However, it will chalk and yellow... IF... you don't cover it with a polyurethane (that hides). 

Almost every water or gas storage tank that you see outdoors is coated with epoxy. Some of these are topcoated with urethane and some are NOT coated with urethane. 

Now, if it's leaking from the inside out that means that it either soaks up water when it's wet and then you see it seeping back out... or... you have TONS of hydrostatic pressure. 

I know that some of you know that we have products for this. I'm purposely not pushing any of our products here. 

If this were my house, I would use a little sandblaster with Black Beauty and brush blast the concrete (after smoothing it out a bit). The point of that is to get the deepest profile I could get for the next step. Then, I might use a product like Barrier-1 to eliminate Hydrostatic pressure. Then, I would prime with epoxy and possibly apply a 100% solids pool coating at about 20 mils... Once that layer was tack free I would apply a second layer and shoot colored quartz into it with a hopper gun. This would give a highly decorative and textured finish for anti-slip. I might do the stairs in a different color combination than the walls. 

Acid stain might work but you need to make sure you get an exterior grade. Not all acid stain colors are IV resistant. Also, where you grind to make it smooth you may not get any staining. If there is worry about this then you could always go to an acrylic stain. 

Sorry to end abruptly... my son just threw up and I had to go clean it up... I'm going to bed now! Good luck... post some pics when it's done.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Epoxydude is right....BUT for most of us, especially novices to epoxy....its better to just not do it.


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## venetian designs (Nov 24, 2007)

Thanks a lot Wolverine, I was hoping you would respond here. Since it's my own house, I wouldn't mind using it to learn more about epoxies. What exact products would you recommend? If the forum has a problem with you promoting on here, feel free to PM me. 
Thanks!


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## Dmax Consulting (Jul 22, 2008)

I would look into Sherwin's Loxon XP. It is a waterproofing coating. It MUST be applied to the manufacturer's specs or else it won't work.

You need 2 coats that total 40 wet mils. Spray and backroll

Use stampede urethane sealant for crack. You must wait about 5 days before you can paint this sealant. Good Luck!


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