All it needs is a fresh coat - Working on the Basement Workshop

 

It is not uncommon for model railroaders to call their basements a home away from home. Let’s face it most layouts and workshops are found in a basement. Prior to moving into our new house I would have agreed with this statement. I had a small area at my parent’s house that I set up as a working space. In fact half of my stuff is still there. This is because I have not been able to fully set up my new workshop at the new house. I have shown pictures of my current set up in my home office where I can do some 3D modeling, but I would like to be able to set up a proper workshop down in the basement.  I have not done this yet because of one important issue, Water.  

My house is over 100 years old and I had a bit of an issue of water leaking through the stone/brick walls during heavy rain.  Not large amount that could cause damage, but enough to be annoying and ruin anything sitting in its way.   I didn’t have the funds at the moment to install a pump or hire someone to completely refinish the basement, so I looked into ways I could solve the problem myself. I am an engineer after all. I found that the main source of the problem was the stone stairs in the hatchway from the backyard. I needed to try to seal the steps so water would not get in.

I came across this product; Behr Dry Plus waterproofing paint. It claimed that it would hold up to 12 PSI of ground water with only two coats of paint. Sounded too good to be true but I figured I give it a shot.  

I bought a gallon of it at Home Depot and it was just enough for me to apply 2.5 coats on the stairs and retaining walls In the hatchway. I went a little overkill because I wanted to make sure the product would cover every nook and cranny. So what were the results? After 3 months of on and off rain, not a drop from the stairs!!!

I was impressed and sold on the product, but not the color. Dull Grey was not my first choice but it’s what’s on the shelf in the store. I never thought to look online and see that you can buy different colors in 5 gallon buckets. My plan was to buy a 5 gallon bucket, follow the instruction and paint as much of the walls as I could; starting with walls that have been affected by the water in the past.

What were the results this time? 

I got 3 of 4 walls completed with two coats each. Covers very nice and only took 2 weekends of my time to finish. I chose a light blue color for the walls this time for two reasons. I thought it would help brighten up the basement. (it didn’t really) and because it was a good base for a sky on a model railroad if I ever build a module In the basement.

The last step was the floor. During my investigation and trial and error finding the source of the water; I ruled out that it was seeping up through the floor. So I just wanted to find something to clean up the floor and cover some of the water stains in low points.  I’ll be honest I was not looking for something in particular and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on any fancy colors.

I started to look at my local Home Depot and Lowes for their “oops” paint or normally called mis-tinted paint. This is normally painted that has been rejected or returned due to it not matching the color selected and is heavily marked down.  

At Lowes I found 2 gallons of a dark blue-green color for $9 a gallon. I asked the store associated to shake the paint for me to see the true mixed color. While the paint mixed we talked a bit about what it was for.  He suggested something else that might be more helpful. Behind the counter there was a 5 gallon bucket of off white “oops” paint looking for a home.  It was only $30 for 5 gallons, I couldn’t pass this up.

And this is where I am as of this weekend, waiting for the first half of the basement floor to dry with its second coat of paint.  Did I go overboard a bit, maybe, but will I have a clean, dry workshop in the near future? Yes and to me that is defiantly worth the time and money spent.  But for now I need to get back to work. There is still another half of the floor to paint!!!