<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  If you&amp;#039;ve been following my blog posts, you know that my husband and I have been working for two months now to create a playroom for our toddler out of our unfinished basement. Now we&amp;#039;re well into the nitty gritty of our project. Our last step was applying a water blocking sealant to the concrete walls. While we don&amp;#039;t get flooding in the basement, we do get some water, especially during heavy rains, and moisture behind finished walls can lead to mold. But before we brushed on the sealant, we needed to treat the walls by removing the efflorescence, the white salt-like substance that naturally occurs on all concrete surfaces that are exposed to moisture in low temperatures. If the efflorescence hadn&amp;#039;t been removed, the water sealant paint wouldn&amp;#039;t adhere properly. We&amp;#039;re using the DryLok system which includes an etching product to remove the efflorescence, a quick concrete patching system to fill in holes, and a sealant for the walls. Be forewarned that if you tackle a project like this, you&amp;#039;ll need a lot more of the sealant than you&amp;#039;d expect. In fact, for just one 34-foot wall, we had to purchase five gallons. No tools are included in the system, so you&amp;#039;ll also need to pick up a five-gallon bucket, sponges, wire brushes, and paint brushes. What I&amp;#039;ve Learned:  WEAR GOGGLES AND GLOVES when removing the efflorescence! And long sleeves and pants. The etching product is sold in 12-ounce containers and an entire bottle is dissolved in a gallon of warm water. The instructions say to apply to the efflorescence and scrub with a wire brush but when I dipped the brush into the bucket not much was making it onto the wall. So I found an old sponge and used it to apply the solution to the walls and it worked much better. The efflorescence almost seemed to disappear when the etch was applied to the wall but I had to scrub it in to make sure I got all of the efflorescence removed and this is where goggles were crucial. The etch splattered and I didn&amp;#039;t want to get this stuff in my eyes. I didn&amp;#039;t wear long sleeves or pants and learned the hard way that this substance burns when it gets onto the skin. While it didn&amp;#039;t leave a burn mark, it wasn&amp;#039;t a fun experience. As there were fumes, I made sure the area was well ventilated, by opening the windows and using small fans. I didn&amp;#039;t wear a mask, but I&amp;#039;d suggest you do if fumes bother you. After I removed all of the heavy areas of efflorescence I stepped back and realized that there were still lighter amounts in very large areas and the etch solution needed to be applied to the whole wall. So I went back to the beginning and wiped down the entire wall. Once the walls dried completely, it was on to applying the waterproofing...a substance very much like paint, but much thicker. The instructions say you can either roll it on or brush it on. I started out with a roller but quickly realized that most of the stuff was dripping off and onto the floor. It was just too thick for the roller to absorb. So I switched to a masonry brush and found it was pretty fast work from that point on. And once the first coat dried, the second coat went on even quicker. Check back for a progress report and find out what we learn in our next step...installing board insulation! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a24545/refinish-your-own-basement-update/>