Patch And Seal Interior Concrete Walls In Your Home's Basement
If the interior concrete walls in your home's basement have a few hairline cracks running through them and moisture enters your home whenever it rains, patch the walls with concrete filler by completing the steps described below. Afterward, coat the interior walls with sealer that is designed for use on concrete. The walls will remain dry once you have finished the project.
Supplies
- roll of plastic sheeting
- scissors
- wire brush
- vacuum cleaner hose
- concrete cleaning agent
- sponge
- bucket of warm water
- tube of concrete filler
- caulk gun
- flexible putty knife
- hand sander
- sandpaper (fine grit)
- tack cloth
- paint roller
- roller frame and extension handle
- bucket of waterproof sealer
- paint tray
Eliminate Small Fragments Of Concrete And Clean Each Wall's Surface
Use scissors to cut large pieces of plastic sheeting to lay over the basement's flooring that is next to each interior wall. Move a wire brush over the cracks in order to eliminate fragments of concrete that are loose. Move a vacuum cleaner's hose over the length of each crack to suck up any small concrete particles that are stuck inside of each damaged section.
Apply a few drops of a concrete cleaning solution to a damp sponge. Use the sponge to remove stains from each wall. Rinse the sponge with warm water and wipe the same portions of each wall in order to remove traces of the cleaning solution. Wait for each wall to dry.
Repair Hairline Cracks, Sand Hardened Filler, And Apply Sealer
Repair hairline cracks with an even layer of concrete filler. Flatten the surface of the filler with a flexible putty knife. If too much filler is added to any of the cracks, remove it with a damp sponge. Wait for the filler to dry. Use a hand sander that has a piece of fine grit paper secured to it to lightly sand the hardened filler until its surface is as smooth as the concrete that surrounds it. Wipe the sanded areas with a tack cloth in order to remove sanding dust.
Apply a coat of waterproof basement sealer to each wall's surface with a paint roller. Move the roller over each wall in even lines. Once the sealer has dried, visually inspect the walls and add a second coat of sealer to each one if the first coat didn't sufficiently cover the concrete. After the second coat of sealer dries, remove the plastic sheeting from the floor.