On Fri, 6 Feb 1998, Tom Shirley wrote:
> I have a basement shop that is pretty much ideal temperature wise. It's
> surrounded by earth on 3 sides and stays around 50 to 60 degrees year
> round. A question about painting the walls white. My walls are block.
> What's a good paint to use that will cover well and be priced reasonably
> and what's the best application method? Spray or roller? I have a
> compressor.
There's a special primer coat for block, called 'block filler' around
here. It is thick bodied and helps to fill all that porosity in the
block. Makes subsequent painting much easier. It's latex based. I
always use a roller indoors, too messy with an airless or conventional.
I used semi-gloss white in my shop, reflects a bit more light than flat
paint.
> Another question - The basement was waterproof until I installed a
> chimney that extends down into the ground from the outside and enters
> through the wall into the basement. Heavy rains cause water to come out
> the chimney pipe and I have to keep a 30 gallon garbage can under it to
> catch it. No wood stove connected any more. The water doesn't flow
> continuously, only after 15 or 20 minutes of HEAVY rain. I guess I
> should have sealed the block since I assume that the water is soaking
> through the block and entering that way. Am I right? The chimney sits on
> a 3x3x3 footer. Should I dig up the earth down to it and seal the
> chimney? I so, what is the best sealer. The stuff on the foundation
> which is about 20 years old looks like tar. It works great though.
There are tar based foundation sealers which work well, they're my first
choice. Yep, I think you'll have to dig...
Martin Scarr
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