What is this on the walls and floor, and is this bad?

Question

Thinking about buying this house but not sure if what I am lookong at is bad or not....

Any help is appreciated.

David Lee Hall, III · Answer

Efflorescence

Detailed description

Basically lime deposits leaching out of the ground. Nothing to cancel a deal over but you could say something like “this efflorescence is a sign the exterior waterproofing is insufficient for the hydrostatic pressure of ground water in the area - we are going to need a sellers concession equal to the value of the middle of three independent quotes for remedy” - so just use it to get cheaper price. If there is no flowing water you could scrape, acid etch, and throw drylok on there for $100 in materials - easy DIY job.

Note: you do have electric and plumbing there that need to be moved for proper sealing,  so you would want to have pros handle those pieces.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

You definitely want to fix this before finishing a basement. It is very common.

Eron A. · Answer

I got this under contract, and we should close after the new year. I got some quotes on waterproofing from the outside. They both came in around $20K. I would require lots of digging since the house is very long. It would also require busting up a concrete porch.

I really hope this would fix the issue. There is 1 wall that is under the house, and its almost impossible to get thru without digging UNDER the house, so we wouldnt waterproof that one. We would just put up some barrier from the inside. That wall isnt very long. Its about...eh...say 10 feet. The seller seems to have painted over a few of these walls, which is a bit annoying, but yeah....thats the plan for this.

Im going to ask the seller to meet me halfway on all my issues.

David Lee Hall, III · Answer

I am in places build in the 50s, 60s and 70s every week around here that have finished basements and have since built - so I wouldn’t really agree with the assessment about homes before 1995 not being built to have finished basements. There are multiple ways to handle moisture from exterior preventative systems to interior French drains. Additionally, efflorescence doesn’t mean there is water actively in the house, but that moisture is pushing ground leached chemicals through the foundation. If you want to refinish the basement I would get three quotes on waterproofing from different companies. I would guess worst case you are looking 15k or so on interior remediation after demo and before rebuild, but that is just a rough guess.

Eron A. · Answer

I did add a YT video to the above post. For some reason it didnt show up but...here you go:

Eron A. · Answer

Im thinking of redoing the basement, and water coming thru the walls could be a problem? No? I would think...that this wall would need to be properly waterproofed and that would be the dirt would need to be excavated and a barrior put up properly? Thoughts?Something like this:

I also saw another video saying that those old houses like...made before 1995 were probably not made to have a basement finished, and they might not have been properly waterproofed. So, basically...dont finish those basements. But if I buy this house, I need to finish the basement properly inside and out.

I can see that the owners seem to have wanted the basement finished. They have a bathroom down there and they have 2 rooms that they are including in the square footage of the home. That basement is totally unfinished if you ask me. So if they are saying its a finished basement....I think it should be properly waterproofed. I would think Id have to take off $20-25K b/c about...300ft of outside wall would waterproofed which would require excavation and not hitting gas lines...

Thoughts?

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

@David Lee Hall, III is correct. Not a big deal itself, but it indicates the presence of water in the area (it's basically calcium). Don't let it keep you from buying the house but maybe ask for a reduction....

Eron A. · Answer

Ok, so been doing some reading and research, so i think im understanding better whats going on.

Thx!

Eron A. · Answer

Thanks, David.

Moving all that electrical and plumbing there?? Ah man. That sounds like a $5000-10000 job.

Any idea why there is all that efflorescence in that spot there? FYI: This is a small closet in the basement with the water pressure pump in it. I believe the floor is cement there like the entire basement. Now that I look at some other photos, I believe this wall is like that because thats the wall thats against the dirt. Do you know what I mean? The front of the house looks like its 1 story, but the back of the house looks 2 story, so there is dirt against that basement wall. And I think that entire long basement wall facing the dirt has that efflorescence on it.So sounds like that whole entire wall would need to be waterproofed, and it couldnt be done from the outside.

Pic of the far left corner...about 30 feet down...and I see the same stuff on the walls. I bet if I look behind the paneling...it would be there too.

What is this on the walls and floor, and is this bad?

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