Sealing up the Basement Shop

I posted this same topic at lumberjocks. Figured it would be good to do here too.

I’ve put it off long enough. I couldn’t sleep last night while it rained and I kept thinking that the water table was rising and something in my basement shop was going to get wet. Just the moisture content alone was scaring me awake every hour. I must have walked downstairs a dozen times to double check that everything was out of the spots that usually get wet first.

So, I need a little advice on this to make sure what I do gets it done and I don’t have any more crappy nights like this. Here is what I am up against:

- Dugout basement (about a decade after the house was built)
- A few already sealed cracks in walls, ledges, and footings.
- Uneven and unlevel floor
- A sump pump that seems on the high side of some of the puddles that generally form
- a few small cracks that ooze water (I can literally hear air coming up through them as the water table rises)

If I remember tonight, I’ll take a few pics of the basement and post them up to show you the general layout. I think it is unique in that there are ledges along all the sides that are about three foot tall and three foot deep. The back of the ledge is the original foundation. I’m gathering that this was normal for how you dug out a basement back in the day.

I’m planing on the DIY job for this. I can’t pour concrete worth a damn, but I know how to work a paint brush or a sprayer so I don’t want to pay extra for someone’s particular expertise on those two skills. So far, I’m looking pretty closely at Radon Seal as a sealer. They also have some crack fix and injection kits available that work will with that product.

Any hints, tips, tricks, or product suggestions?

~Danny Boy