Waterproofing Basement Walls with DRYLOK® Paint -- by Home Repair Tutor 

This stuff doesn't work. There's no negative side waterproofing that works. This is just masking the issue

@@williamm4442 This mostly true. But crystalline waterproofing DOES work. Technically it is not negative side because it actually migrates all the way through the concrete sealing the pours making the concrete itself waterproof. But you install it to the negative side. After it has had sufficient time to penetrate you can actually remove it from the face of the wall

this will work for a short time only

@@kevinmarkey2039 I figure. We're too comfortable with the idea of 1-2 years is "good enough"

thanks Mark for describing the real life situation for many folks. Sure, it would be awesome to excavate and do exterior waterproofing/grading. But unlike HGTV, most of us have budgets and limited funds.

@@HomeRepairTutor Exactly. Thanks for sharing the video

Well said... especially when you are in a land locked house as a lot of Pittsburgh Houses are. I wouldnt say I have a HUGE water problem, but I notice on heavy rains, I sometimes get a little seepage on the bottom of the walls. Im talking slight dampness. BUT... it always smells a little musty. Would you both say I should just use regular paint as to not cause anymore issues and would a dehumidifier help?

The problem I have is this video is just spreading bad information, and its selling a product that isnt going to do what is advertised. Most people watching this are running out to home depot to pick this shit up and 6 months from now are going to be upset when the product fails and they spent their time and money on this "waterproofing" Hydraulic cement and viscous paint are going to work about as well as play-dough and regular old latex paint if drainage issues are not addressed. Water is taking the path of least resistance and in most cases that means into your basement. Yeah, its expensive to have this problem addressed the right way, but when the foundation splits and the walls shift and half your house falls into a hole, enjoy sleeping at your sisters place. Its a waste of time and effort with the only one benefitting is the company pumping out DryLock.

Oh, and I forgot to mention this guy benefits from the views the video is getting. Now, excuse me while I go duct tape the side of my pool, its got a leak I need to address.

I'm not sure I understand this, in my situation poured concrete walls built mid-nineties, perfectly dry except I've had 2 injections to fix settlement cracks. Painting just to paint, not meaning to seal. I don't want to put up walls, because I want to KNOW if water is coming in, so I can have it repaired properly, but white looks better than grey. So the hydrostatic pressure is like 10psi right? Enough to push through this flimsy stuff anyway, I would imagine. My takeaway is that if I'm not doing it to waterproof, no different than just putting latex paint on the wall (just more epoxy).. I could scrape the stuff off, it doesn't "penetrate" anything. I think the product is probably good for concrete paint, but not sealant - and I can't imagine water just "sits" halfway up a wall and wouldn't run down or come on through? I'm guessing people try to fix their leaky cinderblock walls from the 60's, and trap water in the inside of that. I watched videos where people can drill a hole and they see water pouring out. Anyone who thinks paint will fix that.. well :) Curious your thoughts

If your roof is leaking do you climb on top of your roof or fix it from the attic? The only real fix is to dig up the dirt outside and re-waterproof the walls, any other way is a hack that will probably lead to more problems, and if any contractor tells you otherwise find a new contractor.

@danchase2023 Drylock is designed to hold 15psi. It's primary application is to stop moisture/water penetration. Not a standard paint.

@@danchase2023 just seeing this a year later, but there’s a lot to unpack here. Hydrostatic pressure can definitely rise vertically up a well sealed wall. The best application is always sealing from the exterior of the foundation by digging down to the footer, cleaning foundation and using your dry-lock/asphalt sealant etc. After doing this you should be able to paint the interior providing you’re all dry. If you just paint over the interior wall with latex paint and you still have a leak or seepage it will surely bubble and crack in no time and start to sweat and or leak, especially a eggshell or flat paint. The higher gloss/acrylic in the paint the more hydrostatic resistance.

@@danchase2023it is not really about the hydrostatic pressure. If moisture is getting into a concrete wall and is trapped inside it will start to wash out the lime and the wall will deteriorate. If no water is getting in it’s not a problem. But f ANY moisture is getting it it is a problem ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pgA7FqD2IR8.htmlsi=K7ZhuphIYTt9th11

Corigated tubing is a nice addition

Absolutely need to do that I had a new roof put on and new gutters and I pointed the gutters and another direction that I thought would be more beneficial than if it wasn’t and then I put on 4 foot extensions on all four of them away from the house running down a hill in all areas very necessary the gutters are more important to the roof the roof itself is to a certain extent the foundation won’t stay for long if you don’t care for your gutters

Spent a small fortune on basement renovation, it’s not 100% leak proof but rain barrels made a big difference.

How did it go?

thank you, as mentioned in the beginning it's not perfect but helps. The ideal situation would be to waterproof the foundation from the outside but that's not feasible or cost effective

Home Repair Tutor, I quite understand your desire to waterproof the outside as well as the inside. Cost restraints often jack up what we would rather do if we did not have to worry with money issues. We just have to do the best we can with what we have!

These people dont understand that water proofing goes on the outside. This is just a bandaid till it turns into a major mess. He should have just painted the walls with a portland cement with enough water to act as a paint then skim with the same color cement of choice. Fixing the gutters and drainage issue would have been a better idea then just locking the moisture in the wall. He isnt going to see the damage till it gets really bad to and then will have to pay a huge amount of money to have the foundation repaired.

great tips, thanks for sharing!!!

Using a thicker nap roller cover on rough surfaces like concrete will perform similarly to brush work.

What state do you do foundation repairs?

@@atthebyrdsnest161 Northern Virginia and Maryland

@@LanceZ what do you suggest to do vs this ?

@@MetalGuitar06 for cmu walls.. drill weepholes and bury lines under the slab to a sump. Keep the water out of the walls. Or waterproof from the exterior

@@LanceZ I don't know if you noticed, but the basement wall he was working on appears to be glazed block which can not drain water using weep holes like cement block can. Glazed block has horizontal air cavities not vertical, as you probably know. That's what I have in my basement of my 1901 home. So, assume that the exterior wall is both rubber sealed and has a J channel drainage system put in, what would you use to seal and improve the interior wall adjacent to that exterior wall.

I'm in Ohio too

Nope. If you pause when he shows the can instructions, it says that it's not for horizontal surfaces that will receive foot traffic.

Has it held up well?

how does it look now?

thank you, hopefully it helped

Same question. All white looks like it will dirty too easily.

@Tom Redd did it lower the overall humidity of you're basement?

Don’t waste your money on DryLock. It doesn’t work and it doesn’t stop moisture or active water leaks

@@douglaubshire4102 what do you recommend then?

@@zacharykicker6436 outside waterproofing is only solution with drain pipe all over the house (weep tile) and sump pump ..this is only that will work and stop water..but not 100% even that

@@zacharykicker6436 water has to be draining away from house. Solve that first then drylock.

Um no. Painting masonry protects it from corrosion. The masonry on my 1936 house has always been painted and still looks great today.

We Drylocked our basement when we built our house in 1987. Just sold the house this year (Feb 2021). In 34 years we never had a problem with moisture in the basement and the paint held up quite well. Building a new home now and I'm going to Drylock the basement before I move in.

Yes it does. Painting on paint will eventually cause the top layer to crack and chip.

I actually had to do this basement in sections due to time constraints. So you should be okay.

I did it in sections with no problems. Prep work is key.

@@heyjohnsmith wouldn't that would smell horrible and make a room rather unlivable??

@@suzannecogar717 the paint thinner doesn't last indefinitely. Paint is thinned all the time.

Good point

Exactly! Extend the gutter to lower point.

I just bought drylock pro to apply to my 110 year old basement walls that look similar to this. I believe removing the efflorescence with vinegar, , and letting it fully dry should do the trick before applying the drylok.

Go Bucs! There’s a local place up north, Best Tile. They’re on 19 in Wexford. Is that close?

Go Bucs! I saw some similar product at the Depot I might try. Before anything im installing a glass block window with a vent to see if that helps reduce the humidity in the garage. Have the walls taped up to see if the condensation is from seepage or humidity too, guess ill find out today. So how is the Drylok holding up for you? Theres a lot of nay sayers on that product and they do make a compelling argument. Thanks for the vids!

I believe the moisture is still trapped and will eventually follow the path to least resistance. Creating more problems. According to a contractor I had a meeting with yesterday.

Yea, the system in this video is a band-aid which will eventually cause the moisture left in the brick to release its lime. Which is the binder or glue of the brick. Over time this foundation would not only start to leak a lot more but would also be brittle and unstable and have to be totally redone. Never stop the block from breathing. This is not a solution but the creation of a real problem.

yup, that water will instead sit in the wall where it can freeze and mold

Yes, the wall bricks act like a sponge, the water stays in the wall. The only real fix is on the outside of the wall

It might appear to be working but in reality your doing more harm then anything. Water cannot be sealed out, it will eventually build enough pressure to get through and in the meantime trapping water in the brick or concrete which will cause damage and weaken the foundation and promote mildew and mold growth behind the paint. The moisture needs to breath out into the dry air to evaporate and walls should only be sealed on the outside and never on the inside in case some wicking does occur and needs to be able to get out. It might take a few years to but sealing the inside in a wet ground situation where it gets inside the basement will be a ticking time bomb with guaranteed damage to occur which depending on several variables can range from minor foundation damage if it's able to bust through the sealant before to much pressure has built which could cause major damage since the sealed out moisture sitting building up pressure will also weaken the concrete basically breaking it down rotting away from the inside out. So best case is the sealant being applied to the inside was done poorly or over existing paint causing it to fail before to much damage is done, and if it was done so well that it was able to hold off the pressure for several years before breaching probably due to weakened concrete then it can be a seriously dangerous situation that will be a huge financial cost which might even require lifting the house completely off the foundation and replacing it. If you live in a area with freeze thaw conditions the trapped water will freeze and expand showing the problem faster then areas where it stays warm year round and water just sits until the inevitable happens. Long story short don't seal the interior walls of basements unless your wanting a future major project to do or pass the problem to someone else unfortunate to get it unknowingly.

I would avoid DryLok. The house I bought DryLok was used on the wall and floor. Concrete will have moisture and after a little time it will peel off. It held in moisture causing my blocks to stay wet, eventually they cracked under pressure.

stringX90 same, how is your project going?

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I rolled my basement in drylok... worked fine

I’ve seen it done rolled on. As far as I could tell it worked fine. May only be a small difference. The product works regardless. It’s been a while since I’ve used it. It may have improved. The label used to say to brush on but that may only have been back when I used it.

@@manganights i didn't read the label lol its essentially paint so didn't really think i had to. oh well. I rolled it on and touched up any holes with a brush. seemed faster

The only surface that would seem different is blocks. The rough texture supposedly gets filled by tiny things like the old Superballs that used to be popular. But even on that it would protect rolled on.

@@manganights Is it still holding up? Or is it peeling off again?