Q. I think I have efflorescence on the concrete walls of my basement. My house is 90 years old with a poured-concrete foundation. The surface is blistering and peeling, and I see small white ...

Once you've ensured that your basement is water-tight, it's time to paint. Expect to spend about an hour preparing and painting a 6x8-foot wall, not counting drying time required for repairs.

Q: I just bought my first house and am about to remodel my basement. The previous owners of the house glued 2-inch-thick foam insulation to the poured concrete walls.

Depending on the amount of paint and how difficult it might be to remove it, there are typically four ways to get paint off concrete. For smaller areas, you might get away with using a scraper or ...

Chunks of concrete were ripped out of the Fidalgo Pool and Fitness Center basement wall with a crowbar during a structural evaluation on Oct. 26.

With a stain-blocking primer on the walls, you then can apply the wall paint of your choice. Unless there continues to be moisture migration through the blocks, that should be the end of the staining.

Q: We would like to resurface the concrete walls next to the steps leading to a walk-out basement. When the house was built 15 years ago, the builder covered the walls with some type of faux-brick ...

Q: My indoor patio was stained green with oil-based paint 68 years ago. I put on two coats of Valspar floor, deck and patio for concrete, but it's peeling. What do I do? A: Your question raises a ...