Spray on finish for concrete wall

[southernfried]

Hi all, we are in the process of getting our home ready to sell. Our front foundation is about 18 block high and slopes up, since we are on a hill. There is no basement, and we are wanting a sprary on textured finish to cover up the concrete wall, since my wife says it is ugly, does anyone have an idea on how to do this in the least costly fashion, either spray on or roll on, any ideas, thanks in advance

[Tscarborough]

One of my pet peeves is "making do" on a house that you are going to sell. If you want it to add value to the house, why not do it right?

Another of my pet peeves is waiting until you decide to sell to fix/upgrade something. If it was good enough for you the whole time you lived there, why isn't it good enough for the next person who lives there?

You can do it yourself for very little money, provided the block are not painted. Are they?

[southernfried]

Originally Posted by Tscarborough

One of my pet peeves is "making do" on a house that you are going to sell. If you want it to add value to the house, why not do it right?

Another of my pet peeves is waiting until you decide to sell to fix/upgrade something. If it was good enough for you the whole time you lived there, why isn't it good enough for the next person who lives there?

You can do it yourself for very little money, provided the block are not painted. Are they?

WOW my first post and I hit 2 of your "pet peaves",lol. NO the blocks are not painted, how many more "pet peaves" ya got, I may hit them all.

[Tscarborough]

Well, my peeves aren't directed at you, just in general, and I am guilty of the second one myself.

Get some premixed mortar, some powdered dye, bonding agent, and a 30 dollar trowel, and you can do 2-500 SqFt in a 6 hour beer drinking spree on your first day.

Clean the wall well.

Mix the mortar one or 2 bags at a time in your wheelbarrow. Put in enough dye so that it is twice as dark as you want it to be when it dries. Make careful note of exactly how much dye and water you add to the cement! Do it by volume. As an example, put 3-44 ounce big gulp cups of water per bag of mortar and one 12oz plastic cup of dye, plus a 120z cup of bonding agent (that is only an example, just keep track of how much in whatever you use).

If it is hot and dry, spray the block until just before water runs down the wall. If it runs down the wall, wait a bit. Note that any variation in wall dampness or ingedient quantities (+/- 5%) will cause color variation.

If you do not want to fool with color, just do it gray, it will still look 100% better than raw CMU.

It is cheap, but hard labor. Tom Sawyer your friends into helping.

[Pecos]

Another note: It might be easier to apply your mix with a rubber float than with a trowel. It will give you a sandy texture that is much easier to accomplish than a smooth finish like you'd get with a trowel. Also, the mix won't slide off your trowel on it's way to the wall. A rubber float is a piece of stiff foam rubber attached to a handle. It is made for what you are attempting.

My pet peeve ran away. Now I just have tropical fish.

[southernfried]

A friend of ours has suggested a spray on "sand" type finish, but I cant find any where on the net what he is talking about.

[Tscarborough]

He is probably talking about a synthetic stucco finish, which would work, but would not hide the grout joints on the block (plus, the spray rig is pricey to rent, if you can even find one.) It is also somewhat expensive.

[southernfried]

I will have to ask him further, he does it for the business he works for, he said he just did it to the blocks in his parents new house and you cant even see the lines from the mud between the blocks. He works for a concrete business, does driveways and such, and they do this on the side. I will find out more.

[Pecos]

You might try googling "spray deck". That's a sort of generic name for a spray-on cementious overlay product. You'd probably want to hire it out though, because the material can set up quickly and could ruin an expensive rented hopper gun. In addition, I don't know of any outlets that would sell the stuff for DIY use. Most applicators have gone through some sort of classes or certification.