My buddy the contractor told me to waterproof the basement myself...

So my friend who flips houses said I could save $1500 by doing the waterproofing on our finished basement myself. He handed me a tub of Drylok and said just roll it on thick... well it's been two months now and there's already a damp spot in the corner near the sump pump. I'm pretty sure I didn't prep the concrete right or maybe the crack needed a hydraulic cement patch first. Has anyone else had a DIY waterproofing job fail on them or did I just mess up the application?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbara_baker571mo ago

Did you use the cheap paint rollers from the dollar store by any chance?

piperb931mo ago

Oh man, you caught me red-handed (or should I say, red-walled). I absolutely did grab the cheapest rollers I could find, the ones that look like they're made of recycled hamster bedding. Left half the fuzz behind on the wall and then started shedding into the paint tray like a nervous cat. Took me twice as long to pick all the little fibers out of the finish as it did to actually roll the damn thing. Lesson learned, I guess my walls aren't worth the extra two bucks for a decent roller cover.

lee721mo ago

The dollar store roller mistake is a classic and I learned it the hard way too. I grabbed a pack of those cheap ones for a big garage waterproofing job and they started falling apart about halfway through the first wall. Little foam chunks and fuzz everywhere, stuck in the wet waterproofing like freckles. Had to stop, scrape the whole section clean, and run back to the hardware store for a decent 8 dollar roller cover. By the time I was done I'd wasted more time and money than if I'd just bought the good stuff upfront. Did you try picking all the fuzz out with tweezers like I did or just repaint over the mess?