Learn to Repair and Paint Concrete Foundation Walls

Tom Kraeutler asks,

I just purchased a new home with a solid poured concrete wall foundation. I am not looking to “finish” the basement, but I would like to paint the concrete foundation walls to brighten up and make the basement look clean. Is there a material that I can use that would also fill in all the little holes in the concrete and paint the walls at the same time?

Our Answer

<p>Solid concrete foundation walls are about as good as it gets for a strong base for your home. The concrete walls themselves are not really designed to be a finished surface, as the steel forms leave ridges when they are removed, and small voids where air has settled in the concrete results in pock marks. These ridges and pock marks, as well as even minor shrinkage cracks on the concrete foundation should be considered minor and mostly cosmetic.</p>
<p>Basement wall paints tend to be fairly thick and no matter what you do, the concrete walls will not be silky smooth. If the concrete wall has any large areas that need repair, I’d recommend the products from Quikrete. These patches and fillers do a good job on repairing holes and voids in concrete. After the repair, you can paint the solid concrete foundation walls using <a href="https://www.quikrete.com/productlines/concrete-coatings.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paint specially formulated for concrete</a>.</p>