moisture through concrete in shop?

[KEJR]

Hello,

I have a garage that is halfway built into my basement and that is where the machine tools are. Every year white and pink deposits come out of the concrete right at about or just below ground level. I am fairly sure it is salts and other things from the concrete coming out slowly with moisture coming in the basement. Please note that there are no signs of actual water coming in through cracks or anything of that sort. Besides making a mess of powder all the time I am concerned with long term degradation of my foundation.

Has anyone here had luck with the Drylock type products made for painting concrete walls? I am thinking to paint the walls to keep things bright and tidy. I just don't want it to peel where the moisture is slowly coming in. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks,
KEJR

[Oldbrock]

If you are going to do it right you have to dig up all around the basement wall and properly seal it on the outside and redo the drainage from around the footings. See your building specialist about wall preperation and coatings to do the job. Big job. I'm glad it you not me. Peter

[The Artful Bodger]

I have no idea if this would work but years ago I saw someone suggest drilling holes in a wet concrete wall and injecting an oily substance that would spread between the ground water and the concrete eventually to be soaked into the concrete and making it water repellent. His suggestion was used motor oil.

Are there any comments on this?

[Mike Burch]

Not sure about concrete, but one of the brick houses I lived in while in England had a dodgy damp-proof course, bringing the possibility of rising damp. This was fixed by drilling into the bricks and injecting a silicone of some sort.
Try your local concrete driveway sealing guys for ideas. I would be very leery of a DIY fix like injecting old sump oil.

[gwilson]

Such oil gets into the ground water,too. It will show rainbows on nearby ponds. If you have a well,I'd NEVER do this. I have a well,and never pour anything on the ground that I don't want to end up in my drinking water.

[Duffy]

AB, that treatment falls right between bat snot and dragon blood and is as effective. The external treatment is probably the best, (AND the most expensive!) Another treatment that will work, if it is not massive leakage, is to paint the concrete with either Potassium or sodium silicate solution. Check with National Silicates for more information, but it is comparatively inexpensive and within the range of DIY. There IS a chemical reaction-this is not witchcraft.

[Gravy]

I have no idea if this would work but years ago I saw someone suggest drilling holes in a wet concrete wall and injecting an oily substance that would spread between the ground water and the concrete eventually to be soaked into the concrete and making it water repellent. His suggestion was used motor oil.

Are there any comments on this?

I've got a comment.

Really REALLY BAD IDEA!!!

Don't do it. The oil will go everywhere except where you want it. You will still have a wet basement, and you will likely get a visit from the humorless folks in charge of ensuring that your drinking water isn't contaminated with used motor oil. Getting that oil back out of the water supply may well cost more than you will earn in your entire life.

[MichaelP]

If you are going to do it right you have to dig up all around the basement wall and properly seal it on the outside and redo the drainage from around the footings. See your building specialist about wall preperation and coatings to do the job. Big job. I'm glad it you not me. Peter

Absolutely. Don't waste your money on anything else. All those internal treatments are just temporary Band-Aids, at the best. I have recently went through this adventure and am very happy I've done it right.

[JoeLee]

Sounds like who ever poured the floor never put poly down first.

JL..............

[The Artful Bodger]

Ha ha, I did not specifiy old engine oil as the only potential injectable substance.

[Cheeseking]

That sounds like efflorescence (sp?) Water vapor passes through concrete almost as if if we not even there. IIR it's capillary action that will drive it from high RH to low RH so a Membrane or sealer on the outside of the foundation is probably the only way. Anything on the inside will probably bubble and peel from the vapor pressure. Builders at least around here will spay a black tar residue to the outside foundation walls prior to back fill although I suspect they use bare minimum thickness to save cost. If I was to build again I would double up the coating or use the best available coating system and insulate with polyiscoanurate foam.
There may be some concrete sealer that claim soaks into the pores and stops the chemical reaction converting the minerals in the concrete, salts etc, and seals the pathways for water vapor but I'm not sure if they work or how effective they are.

[lynnl]

I don't think water (moisture) can EVER be kept out permanently, from a treatment on the "dry side." Sure, it may work for awhile, but eventually the water gods will triumph.

[MasterMaker]

I would go with Duffy here since I have used this and it works.

Potassium or sodium silicate is used to waterproof brick, concrete and ceramics.

If my memory isn't of it crystallizes into non water permeable crystals when it gets in contact with an alkaline.

If the floor is bare concrete so that the silicate will get absorbed deeply into it, its should stop the moisture intrusion(or at least drastically improve the situation with a couple of treatments).

It is sold commercially here as a waterproofer for stone and concrete and I know its is a very old remedy for moisture problems.

I haven't got a clue if it is sold as something other than the chemical where you are but it is cheap here so the same should be true where you are.

[Iraiam]

How about mineral oil, I have used it to water proof other stuff like gloves, boots, I used it on a horse saddle once with good success, never tried it on concrete though.

[CCWKen]

How about mineral oil, I have used it to water proof other stuff like gloves, boots, I used it on a horse saddle once with good success, never tried it on concrete though.

Mineral oil is made from petroleum (oil).

Pumping a petroleum product into the ground in Texas will get you a 10 year "vacation" and cost you about $10,000 per day that it remains there. If it enters an aquifer, you'll probably never see the light of day.