Great points on the primer—wish I'd known that before tackling my basement walls last year. I went with regular primer, thinking it'd be fine since it said "multi-surface" on the can...big mistake. Now I've got patches peeling off and a weekend of redoing ahead of me. Lesson learned, masonry primer from now on. Also, about the ventilation screens—I check mine every spring now; you'd be amazed how quickly spiders decide it's prime real estate. Congrats on passing inspection, must feel great getting that checked off your list.
"I went with regular primer, thinking it'd be fine since it said 'multi-surface' on the can...big mistake."
Been there myself—those multi-surface labels can be pretty misleading. A few years back, I had a client who insisted on using regular primer for their basement because they'd already bought a bunch on sale. Tried to warn them, but you know how it goes sometimes... Anyway, fast forward six months and I got the call: peeling paint everywhere and moisture spots popping up like mushrooms after rain. Ended up stripping everything down and starting fresh with masonry-specific primer. Lesson learned the hard way.
And you're spot-on about those ventilation screens. Had one job where we opened up an old storm shelter that hadn't been checked in years—felt like walking into a spider convention. Took us half a day just to clear out webs and critters before we could even start inspecting properly.
Glad your inspection went smoothly though; always feels good ticking off those big milestones.
Totally relate to that primer mishap, made the exact same rookie move on my laundry room last year. Thought I was being clever saving a few bucks... ended up with a flaky mess that took twice as long to fix. Good call on getting the ventilation checked out early though—my grandparents' storm shelter hadn't been opened since forever, and when we finally did, let's just say we weren't alone down there. Glad yours passed without any creepy surprises!
"Thought I was being clever saving a few bucks... ended up with a flaky mess that took twice as long to fix."
Haha, been there more times than I'd like to admit. But hey, isn't that half the fun of DIY—learning the hard way? Honestly though, ventilation checks are great, but I'd argue moisture-proofing is just as crucial. Had a client last year whose shelter passed ventilation easily, but overlooked waterproofing. One heavy rain later, they had an indoor swimming pool they never wanted. Ever thought about sealing yours up, just in case?
Totally relate to that waterproofing comment. When we first moved into our historic home, the previous owners had proudly shown off their "storm-ready" basement shelter. Ventilation was spot-on, but they completely skipped sealing the old stone walls. First big storm, and we ended up ankle-deep in water trying to rescue boxes of family photos...lesson learned the hard way. Definitely worth double-checking moisture barriers, even if everything else looks good.
