BrightWall wall finishing

[jkdlou]

My wife and I are considering buying an older home that has a history of water problems. In fact, the basement has numerous cracks in the walls (some are easily large enough to see through to the outside!). The floor has a very thin 1/4" concrete and has dirt and water coming up through it. Needless to say, the basement is a creepy and uninviting place. Our realtor suggested Basement Dry's local contractor in the area and they came out and did a thorough inspection. We are not likely to ever want to completely "finish" the basement, but the options we were given certainly would make it a very comfortable and clean and dry area...just what we were looking for. The ceiling is just too low to do drywall and a dropped ceiling, so we'd go with the Brightwall wall system and the Thermal Dry floor matting, along with the other items such as draim system and sump pump and dehumidifier. Although this is an expense, it would add approximately 800 sf to our living area, and seems like it might be worth the investment. My question involves the Brightwall: Can it be cut so that we could add electrical outletsat the base of the floor? Can you hang things from it (eg: pictures?)and , Can you paint it if you wanted to change the color? Honestly, the most likely scenario would be us adding in some additional electrical outlets, and maybe moving the laundry room down to the basement from the 2nd floor where it is right now. I am not particularly concerned with painting the walls or hanging stuff, buit it would be nice to know if anything can be done to "spruce up" the white color? We realize that we'd add a carpet to the floor, as the black flooring needs something on top to make it look more traditional.

Thanks,

[Basement MD]

The brightwall paneling is made to control water or moisture from the walls and brighten up the basement. You can certainly add electrical conduit for outlets but it would be fastened to the foundation wall. Anything you attach to the brightwall would go through it and be fastened to the foundation. the brightwall is only a 1/16" thick and is going to hold up much on its own.

I would recommend thermal dry wall system and then stud the wall if you want to install electrical outlets and hand items from the wall.

I also dont recommend painting the brightwall.

[jkdlou]

Thanks for the reply. My question was just about the ease with which you can do some minor additions, such as adding electricla outlets. I am sure that an electrician could run them along the base. Painting was just a thought, but hardly a make or break issue.

Thanks,

[caziere]

We are getting ready to have the waterguard system put into our basement of our 1910 house. It is approximately 500 sq ft and our main water problem is seepage between the wall and floor where they meet during the heavy rain season. Once installed, can we do the following:

Instead of using the floor tiles, can we put Hydro-Seal 75 on the floor to keep moisture out (is it effective?). We are not going to carpet. Just area rugs.

We plan to install drywall so that we can paint and decorate the basement colorfully for a bar area/bedroom/entertainment zone. Which wall system would be better for that? (least expensive)

Thank you,

Lyn