Basement upgrades

[hickslawns]

Long story short, sump pump quit and our basement got a couple inches of water in it. I have two dehumidifiers running and a fan about 3-4' tall running to help dry it out. It is mainly dry but I am still tearing stuff out.

I have no clue how old the carpet in there was but I would guess it is 20yrs old minimum. It is foam backed carpet which appears to have been glued down. Carpet is pulling up easily but the backing is not. Currently I am using a 6" putty knife and scraping it off the floor. Anyone know how to get the rest of the glue residue up? No matter how much I scrape I just can't get it all off the floor.

My eventual plan is to prep the floor and repaint it. The basement also has old paneling in various stages of disarray. It is also probably 20-30yrs old or so. I am debating whether to tear it out also.

My main concern for now though is to figure out how I can get the floor painted. I am afraid the paint will simply not adhere well (or at all) unless I can get all the glue/carpet backing off the floor.

 

[Dannmann801]

I got no advice/experience to share, but I'll comisserate with ya.
Dang what a pain in the ass:tantrum:

 

[Beentown]

Floor scraper. Crappy job no matter.

 

[finelyshedded]

Been there before Phil! Don't envy you one bit! Once was a power outage and no backup pump and the other was a fluke. Our ice maker line in back of our refrigerator ruptured while we were asleep and all the next day the water ran down through our floor behind the fridge and ponded in our ceiling of our basement. I went downstairs and shit myself....! Both were big headaches and costly.

Hope you get things back to normal buddy and I sympathize with ya!

 

[Mike]

This sucks major ass, Phil. Would a heat gun help?

 

[hickslawns]

Floor scraper. Crappy job no matter.

Not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate your honesty. At least now I know what I can expect.

 

[bowhunter1023]

Behr Flooring Adhesive Remover and a floor scraper Phil. Like Beener said, it is a shitty job no matter how you go about it. Also, I suggest using the Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Garage Floor kits in the basement. This is what I put down in our laundry room and it has held up well. You have to work fast, but it is some heavy duty stuff.

 

[hickslawns]

Behr Flooring Adhesive Remover and a floor scraper Phil. Like Beener said, it is a shitty job no matter how you go about it. Also, I suggest using the Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Garage Floor kits in the basement. This is what I put down in our laundry room and it has held up well. You have to work fast, but it is some heavy duty stuff.

Awesome Jesse! Thanks. I am not afraid of some work. Just seemed like hands and knees with a putty knife wasn't the best option. Figured there was a better way to attack this project.

I have also been told Dry-Lock or Dri-Loct or something along those lines was a great basement sealer. I will be doing my homework. I really appreciate your recommendations. They will be the first I check out. Thankfully only half of the basement had carpet. Roughly 15'x30'. Worst part will be moving everything. Probably just do it in halves.

 

[bowhunter1023]

http://www.drylok.com/formulas/latex-base-drylok-masonry-waterproofer/

I love UGL products for sealing purposes and the latex version is great for using indoors. Dry-Lok Waterproofer is not for floors, just masonry walls. They do make a concrete floor paint however, but I do not know much about it.

If you are looking to seal the walls, Zinsser is part of Rust-Oleum products and they make a Bullseye 1-2-3 Latex Primer for all surfaces. It is not a high build as a Dry-Lok for masonry applications, but it works great on block, wood, etc. I would suggest that to seal up the paneling if you are going to go that route.

 

[bowieoutdoors]

Dry-Lock works great on walls. When I bought my house a medium rain would have a river running through the basement to the floor drain. I tore the walls down and sealed them with Dry-Lock and now even the heaviest rain brings no water inside. I had a very small (3 inch) puddle by one wall once. Other than that nothing at all, even with the heaviest and longest downpours.

 

[Buckmaster]

I've done my basement a few times over the years at the old house. My walls leaked and left mildew, mold, mildew, and other weird crusty stuff on the basement walls.

I'd scrap it down, spray down with hot bleach water, seal any cracks with Dry Lok caulking and/or hydraulic cement, apply Dry Lok paint, and cover with 5 gallons of Sherwin Williams PRO-Mar paint. This was an every 3 year ritual for me. Ideally the foundation needed dug up and redone with proper drainage and gravel backfill. One of the main reasons I sold and moved on. I was the ideal candidate for Ohio Waterproofing.

As for the floor I used an Valspar oil based floor paint. I used to buy at Lowes or Home Depot as I painted it 2-3 times over a dozen years. They discontinued selling it in Ohio do to VOC so I went online and ordered some from California. Weird!

 

[Big_Holla]

Great advice everyone!

A great place to go to get advice is Glen Haege's Masterhandyman website. He also has a radio show on around the country where you can call in and ask your questions.

Here is his page:

http://www.masterhandyman.com/index.cfm

Similar question:

remove the black adhesive from the floor before you lay the new ceramic tile down. A good product to help you with that job is Remove-It by Dewitt Products, (800) 962-8599, www.dewittproducts.com.

It is a natural citrus solvent that is noncorrosive and noncaustic.