I've got several cracks in my basement floor. Wondering what to do with them. It's further complicated by the configuration of the floor itself. We have ledge and the back of the basement has standard 8 foot clearance but there's about a 12" to 24" "step up" to the front half. It's poured concrete. I've got a good bit of dampness that I think might be coming from where the "step down" meets the floor. It looks to me like it might have seepage and I'm wondering if I should somehow seal it. The finish is somewhat "pebbled" and where the cracks are there's orange colored staining.

Should I patch to seal the seams and the pourous pebble finish...and if so with what? How about the cracks. Should they be sealed too? I'd love to paint the floor...maybe with an epoxy paint but I want to do it right.

HELP....

Thanks,

Sign me Damp in New England...

I really would have a hard time determining your concrete problem, but you'll really want to be careful before putting down an epoxy coating. Flooring epoxies, generally, are very hard and have a low permiability rating, meaning that they allow very little moisture to pass through them. Epoxies can suffer because of the low permiabilty when used in a damp location. If there is any moisture in the concrete, the epoxy coating will not breath to let it pass through. Instead it traps the vapor which builds pressure and pushes the coating off of the surface. I think you might be farther ahead using a good quality latex floor enamel.