Efflorescence?

[midnightrumbler]

I have exposed brick in my furnace room and i am noticing a white salty substance ( Efflorescence ) coming through various areas on the masonry. I recently purchased the house back in may 2004 and the house is about 65 years of age. It appears that someone has painted the masonry with a grey paint of some sort to try and prevent any further effloresence from appearing. To me this is only a quick cover up for possibly a 2 year period.

I know that efflorescence is caused by water and my question is, how do i prevent water from tracking into the masonry and causing the salt spots. Is there any method to clean the exposed area and repaint without the salt substance re-appearing? I am noticing around the wall on the outside that there is about a 1/8" space between the ashphalt driveway and the foundation. I am guessing that this is where the water may be coming through. What is the best way to prevent the water from seaping through this 1/8" crack?. Should i just purchase some ashphalt and slope it away from the house or is there a better method?, Also, since it is now winter here and the snow is just starting, when would be the best time to lay an ashphalt coating down if this could be the fix?

Thank you in advance

[kactuskid]

The best way to keep the brick dry is to make sure you have a positive slope on the outside of your foundation wall that directs water away. If your driveway is on the other side of this wall and has a crack between the house and the driveway, then the best thing you can do is to fill the crack up with sand to within 1/16-1/8th inch from the top. Then buy some self-leveling polyureathane caulk and lay it into the crack. This will adhere to the sides of the crack on both sides.

Problem is that it's too cold out now to do this, you'll have to wait for spring in order for it to work. Installing asphalt into this crack will not work, there's not enough give in the ashphalt to maintain a seal and it'll just crack back out.

You should also wait till spring to fix your wall cause the water entry problem will just wreck any fix you do now. But, to fix it you can use a 10% mixuture of muric acid and water to scrub off the efforlescence. Here's a link that'll show you exactly what you need to do. http://www.homestore.com/HomeGarden/...?poe=homestore

Also make sure your gutters are clear and not leaking and that your downspouts are directed far away from the foundation walls.

A good water sealer is Drylock, but it won't really seep into the concreate walls with a layer of paint already there, you'll have to remove any paint before applying it, then cover the sealer with a latex paint.

[leone184]

Good point about cleaning the bricks with muratic acid. The Drylock company does make a masonry sealer/conditoner that will stabilize the surface & keep the salts from coming out, but the existing paint will have to be removed first. If the efflorescence is bad enough, most of the paint may be coming off already. A stiff scrub brush and lots of water may be all you need. If you get to that point, make sure you let everything dry out completely. If you decide to use the Drylock, be sure to get the acrylic latex version, (they also make a solvent based) it won't trap moisture inside the masonry, and is very paintable.

For the gap, most caulk companies make a butyl-rubber foundation caulk. It's waterproof, and will expand and contract with the changing temperatures. If the gap is very deep, consider stuffing a length of polyurethane backer inside, then put the caulk over that.

leone184