How to Finish a Basement Inexpensively
- 1). Dust the basement walls with a broom.
- 2). Wash the basement floor with a water-based degreasing cleanser, using a coarse brush. Rinse the floor, using a mop. Wait four to six hours for the floor to dry.
- 3). Put on your respirator and protective eyewear.
- 4). Empty the citric acid-based concrete etching solution into a five-gallon bucket. Add two gallons of water. Stir the contents for three full minutes.
- 5). Spread the diluted citric acid-based concrete etching solution over the basement floor, using a squeegee. Wait 15 minutes. Rinse the floor, using the mop. Wait four to six hours for the floor to dry.
- 6). Protect the floor by covering it with drop cloths.
- 7). Open the container of primer and stir the contents for three minutes, using a wooden stir stick. Pour two gallons of primer into a 5-gallon bucket. Coat the basement walls with latex primer, using a roller equipped with a nap cover. Roll vertically, moving from your left to right. Wait two hours for the basement walls to dry.
- 8). Wash the roller and 5-gallon bucket with water.
- 9). Coat the primed basement walls with satin or semi-gloss latex paint, using the clean roller. Roll vertically, moving from your left to right. Wait two hours for the basement walls to dry.
- 10
Wash the roller and 5-gallon bucket with water. - 11
Combine the epoxy resin with the catalyst inside the clean 5-gallon bucket. Remove the drop cloths. Coat the etched basement floor with the epoxy paint, using the clean roller, equipped with a shed-free cover. Begin in one far corner and work backward, moving toward the basement exit point. Wait six hours before walking onto the finished basement floor.
