I have an home build in 1890 in Portland Oregon with a brick foundation and I'm wondering if there are any tips on maintaining it. The previous owner panted the inside brick walls with with a white latex waterproofer. While the basement doesn't leak, some moisture does build up behind the latex causing it to bubble and turn yellow. Pealing off the bubbled latex exposes blue, green and black molds in some places.

I would think that the latex waterproofer would trap moisture on the brick causing it to breakdown over time. Is it better to leave the brick exposed so it can breath or seal it from the inside?

Obviously, the previous owner did not understand that the only place one can waterproof a foundation wall is on the outside. Probably the best you can do is to excavate the foundation down to the footings, if any, repoint all the mortar joints, and then apply a very thick coat of bituminous dampproofing and embed in it a sheet of 6-mil polyethylene film. Then backfill against the wall with pea gravel up to about 8 inches below finished grade.

After that is done, you may approach the horror of trying to remove that ill-advised "waterproof" paint, and repoint the mortar joints inside as well. Those steps should help your foundation to last another 120 years.

if the exterior of walls were parged, it often becomes brittle, cracks or could have been applied on the 'thin' side and this is the
number one reason brick walls leak,get damp,have efflorescence etc on inside.

and NO inside drain tile/baseboard system or paint will solve this,regardless of what any salesperson from any company tries to tell people.

be very carefull when repointing any older brick foundations. The clement motar they used then was a lot diffrent then what you purcase today. It contains a lot more lime. The bagged stuff used today is a lot harder then back then. Thus if you repoint the inside you can cause the brick to bow as the softer stuff compressed and expands from exterior ground moisture. Also I do not suggest that you parge either side of the brick wall for the same reason. The Parging will stiffen one side and not the other causing the wall to bow as well.

Go to www.bia.org for information about your older brick foundation.

HCC,

Are you saying that doing any waterproofing on exterior to stop/prevent/eliminate water-moisture-mold-efflorescence will cause a wall to bow?

You say YOU do not suggest parging either side of brick wall, hope you don`t mean waterproofing.

In 30 years, i have never seen 1 bsmt wall bow in due to the parging on the outside, nary 1 and i`ve seen thousands.

quote:

Originally posted by The Home Care Club LLC:
be very carefull when repointing any older brick foundations. The clement motar they used then was a lot diffrent then what you purcase today. It contains a lot more lime. The bagged stuff used today is a lot harder then back then. Thus if you repoint the inside you can cause the brick to bow as the softer stuff compressed and expands from exterior ground moisture. Also I do not suggest that you parge either side of the brick wall for the same reason. The Parging will stiffen one side and not the other causing the wall to bow as well.

Go to www.bia.org for information about your older brick foundation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LicensedWaterproofR,

My house was built in 1893, over 100 years ago. Can I paint the inside and if so, with what kind of paint? Latex or oil? I won't be waterproofing thanks to your e-mails!

No I am not saying not to waterproof, but LWP You must be real carefull when parging old brick foundation walls. The mortar they used back then contained much more lime and is much softer. The fact that parging cement used today is hard it prevents the bricks from naturally moving with moisture changes can cause one side to move at a different rate then the other. I do agree however you must water proof the outside if your going to do it.
I have seen it done using sheet membrane systems placed against the bricks to above grade then the use of pea gravel etc. This apparently did the job as the clients that had this done no longer had any issues with basement water.

As far as you never seeing any bowed foundation walls. Luck of the draw? or perhaps never noticed it? Or maybe did not happen in your cases. Remember this takes years to develop. Simply doing this and coming back in one or five years will not see any noticable results. Whatever the reason and I am not saying I do not belive you as experiance does play a big part in how someone does his or hers job. And by the sound of your past posts you have a little of this. However, What I have read i.e. BIA.Org some other sites and have been taught by some very old and experianced brick masons not to do it what is considered now the conventional way.

Bricks unlike cement continue to expand as they get older. I know for some this is hard be believe. Just ask Richard, That is why you must place brick facads off the framing wall with moveable ties to the structure. The Brick foundation is no diffrent. All bricks grow and move with age.


As far as the inteior painting of the brick. I do Not suggeste it.I have seen lots of folks destroy a perfect brick foundation by paint and repointing and painting. Remember this were homes that had the brick painted 10+ years prior. The brick needs to breath. Any material that is placed on the surface that binds with the surface of the brick will cause it to spall and crumble as it prevents any natural moisture in the brick to exit thus trapping this moisture until something gives.

AS far as not waterproofing your foundation, take LWP advice do it from the outside. Do not seal the interior with any kind of paint as doing so without preventing water from entering from the outside walls will for sure cause more damage to the brick and existing morter. I know there are breathable paints. They are used a lot on EIFS surfaces to allow for breathing of trapped moisture in the wall. But your talking about a diffrent animal here and quite frankly a properly cleaned, and pointed (with correct cement mixture) brick wall is quite nice. But I am assuming your basement is quite dark and your looking to brighten it up. Contact the BIA.ORG site and see what they suggest to finish the brick surface. Perhaps a stain?

Also please be aware that the advice both I and others provide in this site are based on our experiance within the respected trades for many years. Be carefull when using "NEW" products that claim to be the end all. What LWP uses is a tried and true method of water proofing a home which in many areas of this country has been lost. Because the OTHER contractors choose not to do this does not make them wrong either, just perhaps lazy and looking for the quick buck. The right way often is the harder way in this building industry. And even if it costs a little more, You will save on the long run by not haveing to do it again for a very, very long time if ever. Do your homework but remember our advice is not to sell you a product. So any advice you get from outside contractors that could have a vested interest in selling you something. Tread carefully. Lots of snake oil salesment in this arena.

we don`t 'parge' anything, inside or on outside, never have.

agree, doing anything on inside won`t solve water/moisture entering on outside which in many-not all cases causes mold,efflorescence on inside of wall. Also won`t stop insects or radon from entering on the outside.

seems not too many get this or care, termites-radon etc entering on the outside.

radon pipe remediation is fine for venting radon thats under a bsmt floor, no problem with that.

but it has nothing to do with radon that can enter through cracks/openings in basement walls.

And insects-termites? Not every pest co. knows.cares/informs homeowners of the entryways on outside, they can spray all they like. better off stopping em from entering in the first place AND then spraying em. Some won`t inform folks of this cuz they don`t want to lose business/money

I lived in Europe for a time as a Missionary. I noted that almost every thing was made with cement,concrete,brick, ect One mason told me it was the quality of the product, what ever it be,mortor,block,ect and the quality of the craftsman who made the product. I did look like the smaller job they were mixing/making thier own mortor,cement/concrete.So I still didn't have a concrete understanding! I did tour Coalchester(sp?)The city was surounded by a brick wall,in the middel of town was a working Castel made of brick,block,and cement.They said the brick was made by the Normans 1st not the Romans as 1st thought. To care for it they said evry 100 years they tuck point the mortor with spechail mortor. What is the thought on this?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: admrilbubba,