Refinishing a Basement

It might be cabin fever kicking in because Spring time always stirs up house projects. Before we start traveling for the year we spend our time fixing the house. I have ALWAYS wanted first floor laundry. When I bought my home (12 years ago) it was located in the basement. That is two flights of stairs down and two flights up, EACH load of laundry. After years, let me tell you, it has gotten OLD! This year we decided to tackle refinishing our basement and moving the laundry, FINALLY!! Believe it or not I figured out how to do this via a friend’s Facebook post. I thought I would share, my experience, in case I can help anyone else looking to do the same to their home. 

**I am NOT a professional, these are just my personal experiences. If you are interested in doing this please make sure to consult professionals about your particular household. 

 What you will need:

Gloves

Face Masks

Mean Greens Mildew & Mold Cleaning spray

Hydraulic cement paint ( for patching any cracks)

Drylock paint ( I used white)

Scrub brush ( found this Brillo one at the Dollar tree)

Paint brush

Paint holder ( found this blue one at Dollar Tree)

Bucket

**I received a free products to facilitate my review. I was not required to write a positive review in any way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

First, I recommend cleaning your surfaces. Now, my windows needed replacing. They had crumbed and let moisture in causing some Mold. We cleaned all of that out and replaced the windows. I bought a dehumidifier for excess moisture before starting this project. Because mold can be a very serious problem I recommend still cleaning the surfaces. We used the Mean Green product as mentioned above.

The Mean Green Mildew Destroyer is a bleach-based cleaner and disinfectant. It destroys what is growing in dark, damp spaces. Mildew Destroyer is also effective against Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus in 30 seconds.

I simply sprayed the cleaner on the walls and scrubbed them with a brush. This loosened any rocks particles and helped disinfect.

Next, We patched the holes and cracks in the walls. Overtime they tend to get rather large if you let them go to long before sealing them. Once I cleaned the walls I realized just how bad some of them were. I would like to suggest using chemical gloves for this because some people can get sores from this stuff!!

 Once the walls were patch and dry we started to seal them. Now, I sealed they once with a masonry liquid and then the Drylock paint. After having mold in our home I wanted to spend a little more and go the extra mile to never have that problem again. 

Since we cleaned the stone surfaces and patched the walls this paint went on rather easily. Within a few hours they looked new again!

The transformation downstairs is so indescribable. It went from drab to fab within a weekend! Yes, it did take some work to get it looking like this but honestly it is worth it!

Do you have a basement needing refinishing?

Come back for more updates as we continue to finish the basement and decorate it!