Surface layer basement wall

[twiden]

Hello!
We recently bought a house from the 50s with a partially finished basement. In the basement, the exterior walls are concrete, and on the inside, there's a thin layer of putty, 70s woven wallpaper, and a dense paint.

The idea is to furnish the basement so we can have an extra TV room and bedroom down there.

To make it a bit more moisture-proof, we plan to remove the wallpaper and have a breathable surface, such as plaster and a permeable paint. But plastering is a lot of work compared to just puttying the walls and painting over it. Do you think that's a good solution, or should we go all in on plastering?

 

[Hammarfall]

That it is a risk construction does not mean that it is doomed. I would address moisture, look for other damages, and check the ventilation.

 

[twiden]

That it's a risk construction doesn't mean it's terrible. I would check for humidity, look for other damages, and inspect the ventilation.

No, exactly. There is no moisture, we checked that before the purchase. But we want to renovate the space and replace the older surfaces for aesthetic reasons. And it's smart to combine aesthetics with functionality, you know.

 

[Hammarfall]

If you want to do it properly, you should tear it down and re-plaster. However, in this case, I would just focus on the surface layer. I've plastered several walls in the basement, and it's not particularly fun.

 

[twiden]

But now the walls are not plastered but have ugly wallpaper on concrete. The question is whether filling and painting the walls provides equivalent moisture transport as plaster and paint.

 

[Stefan N]

What are you planning to spackle with? Regular wall filler is not an option.

 

[twiden]

What do you plan to use for spackling? Regular wall spackling is not an option.

That's one reason I'm asking. Why is regular wall spackling not an option? And what type of spackling would you use?

 

[Hästängsudd]

That's one reason I'm asking. Why isn't regular wall filler an option? And what type of filler would you use?

Use the right filler and there are no problems.
Ardex F5, for example, can handle all conceivable issues and is easy to work with, though it costs a bit.
Many wall fillers can't handle moisture (or potential moisture)

 

[J Forsberg]

That is one reason why I am asking. Why isn't regular wall filler relevant? And what type of filler would you use?

What did you decide on, if I may ask?
We are working on a similar project in our basement.

 

[Lechuza]

What did you end up with if I may ask?
We are working on a similar project in our basement.

Hi

The reason you don't use sand filler on exterior walls is that they don't breathe. You should use something breathable, such as plaster and silicate paint only.

ardex F5, as someone mentioned, is really expensive, much too hard to sand. It doesn't turn out well. And much more expensive than plaster.

 

[Plupp 182623]

Hello

The reason you shouldn't use sand filler on exterior walls is that they don't breathe. You should use something that breathes, i.e. plaster and silicate paint only.

Ardex F5, as someone mentioned, is really expensive and far too hard to sand. It doesn't turn out well. And it's much more expensive than plaster.

Can you use regular filler on standard interior walls? I mean interior walls built with studs and gypsum boards. My basement is well-ventilated (FTX), if that matters.

 

[Lechuza]

Can you fill regular interior walls with regular filler? I mean interior walls built with studs and plasterboard. My basement is well-ventilated (ftx) if that matters.

Yes, interior walls don't matter

 

[twiden]

What did you decide on, if I may ask?
We are working on a similar project in our basement.

Hello!
We've just started the project and have torn down everything that needs to go. The research I've done shows that the best solution would be to remove all the putty, improve the plaster, and then use breathable paint.

But for practical reasons, we are trying a different variant. As far as I can see, the old putty adheres just as well to both interior and exterior walls, or it comes off to the same extent when we tore down the wallpaper. Since it's a huge job to remove all the putty, we will improve the wide puttying with regular sand putty, paint with the right type of paint, and hope for the best. The worst that can happen is that the putty comes off in spots, and then we'll have to deal with it later on. But most likely, it won't be a problem.

I don't believe in the theory that putty would trap moisture in the wall. The problem is that the putty dissolves and falls off if the basement wall allows too much moisture to come in because it doesn't set like plaster/concrete/cement does but dries like glue.

 

[J Forsberg]

Hej!
Vi har precis dragit igång projektet och rivit allt som ska bort. De efterforskningar jag gjort visar att den bästa lösningen skulle vara att få bort allt spackel, bättra på putsen och sen köra färg som andas.

Hej!
Vi har precis dragit igång projektet och rivit allt som ska bort. De efterforskningar jag gjort visar att den bästa lösningen skulle vara att få bort allt spackel, bättra på putsen och sen köra färg som andas.

Men av praktiska skäl provar vi en annan variant. Såvitt jag kan se så sitter det gamla spacklet lika bra på inner som ytterväggar, eller det släpper i samma omfattning när vi slet ner tapeterna. Eftersom det är ett jättejobb att få bort allt spackel så kommer vi att bättra på bredspacklingen med vanligt sandspackel, måla med rätt färgtyp och hoppas på det bästa. Det värsta som kan hända är att spacklet fläckvis släpper och då får vi väl lösa det längre fram. Men mest troligt blir det inget problem.

Jag tror inte på teorin att spackel skulle stänga inne fukt i väggen. Problemet är att spacklet löses upp och faller av om källarväggen låter för mycket fukt komma in eftersom det inte brinner som puts/betong/cement gör utan torkar som ett lim.

Hej!
Vi har precis dragit igång projektet och rivit allt som ska bort. De efterforskningar jag gjort visar att den bästa lösningen skulle vara att få bort allt spackel, bättra på putsen och sen köra färg som andas.

Men av praktiska skäl provar vi en annan variant. Såvitt jag kan se så sitter det gamla spacklet lika bra på inner som ytterväggar, eller det släpper i samma omfattning när vi slet ner tapeterna. Eftersom det är ett jättejobb att få bort allt spackel så kommer vi att bättra på bredspacklingen med vanligt sandspackel, måla med rätt färgtyp och hoppas på det bästa. Det värsta som kan hända är att spacklet fläckvis släpper och då får vi väl lösa det längre fram. Men mest troligt blir det inget problem.

Jag tror inte på teorin att spackel skulle stänga inne fukt i väggen. Problemet är att spacklet löses upp och faller av om källarväggen låter för mycket fukt komma in eftersom det inte brinner som puts/betong/cement gör utan torkar som ett lim.

Men av praktiska skäl provar vi en annan variant. Såvitt jag kan se så sitter det gamla spacklet lika bra på inner som ytterväggar, eller det släpper i samma omfattning när vi slet ner tapeterna. Eftersom det är ett jättejobb att få bort allt spackel så kommer vi att bättra på bredspacklingen med vanligt sandspackel, måla med rätt färgtyp och hoppas på det bästa. Det värsta som kan hända är att spacklet fläckvis släpper och då får vi väl lösa det längre fram. Men mest troligt blir det inget problem.

Jag tror inte på teorin att spackel skulle stänga inne fukt i väggen. Problemet är att spacklet löses upp och faller av om källarväggen låter för mycket fukt komma in eftersom det inte brinner som puts/betong/cement gör utan torkar som ett lim.

intressant! Tack för utförligt svar

 

[Hästängsudd]

Hi

The reason you don't use sand filler on exterior walls is that they don't breathe. You need something that breathes, i.e., plaster and silicate paint only.

ardex F5, as someone mentioned, is really expensive, way too hard to sand. They don't turn out well. And much more expensive than plaster.

F5 is diffusion-open so it does breathe, but I agree that it is an expensive option.