Rubble Foundation Waterproofing

[enkidu]

I want to invest in creating a finished basement, including bedroom and bath. The first step is to make my foundation waterproof. I have a french drain installed that keeps my floor dry, but my walls are old and the mortar has gone to powder around the rubble foundation. My contractor has made the following proposal:

Installation of wire lath on basement walls secured by steel nails to walls.
Stucco/repoint walls with a mixture of concrete and mortar. Use bonding agent to improve adhesion to walls.

Paint basement walls with latex drylock waterproof paint. One coat applied by brush by hand.

This is about $3000. Is this a good approach for the situation? I realize you will recommend looking at the job to give an opinion, but I'd like to see if there is an obvious better way from this description. How well does fiberglass cement work? Is that better than the concrete, mortar and bonding agent? Can I use fiberglass cement in place of of using drylock and concrete?

Also, the floor has no standing water at all, but is damp in places. What do you do for a damp concrete floor? I will be building a finished floor just above this concrete one.

[craig@pioneer]

There are several methods to "repointing" a rubble wall.

Some contractors use the approach proposed by your contractor. From what you have described, it sounds like it would work. Is he giving you any guarantee?

Other contractors use the screen and then spray Gunite onto the wall (that is the same material used for inground pools).

Fiberglass concrete is strengthened and guards against cracking. I know it works well on floors, but haven't had much exposure to it being used on walls.

Dampness is inevidiblewith a basement floor. We have the Sani-Dry Air System which controls the humidity in the basement. I have a fieldstone basement with this unit installed and it stays at 40% humidity year round and is bone dry.

Overall, it sounds like your contractor has the right idea. A second opinion from a mason is a good idea. Repointing the wall stone by stone would most likely cost you more than $3000 depending on the size of the basement.

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions, you can call the office and ask for my cell phone number and I'd be happy to speak with you directly.

craig@pioneerbasement