Alternative to Drylok

If you are feeling moisture at the base of the walls, you need to fix the problem. And that is fixed from the outside. This is probably the reason the last owner wisely did not finish this part of the basement. If he did you would by now have a huge mold/mildew/rot problem. Finishing a basement that was not designed to be living space is often problematic. The exterior problem that is trapping water against the foundation maybe as simple as fixing the grading, removing gardens from around the permitter, and installing a system to carry the downspout water away from the foundation. Or it may involve excavation and waterproofing the exterior of the fountain and/or installing weeping drains around footings and draining to a sump pump. The prior owners of my house did the footing drains, sump pump and floated the basement floor. Rarely do I see actual water but during heavy rains and snow melt the sump pump is quite busy and I have to run a dehumidifier around the clock in non heating season. There is no way I would ever finish that basement. You can't waterproof the walls from the inside. Period.

To clear up the confusion, I basically said I would not bother finishing implying that I would need to correct the water issue first and make the basement bone dry. Of course that can be done . And people do do it. In my house I would have to complete regard the back yard, excavate around the entire foundation which would include ripping up my 400 sqft deck, water proof outside of the foundation walls, check the state of the footing drains , build up the hatch way entrance and perhaps but a drain in it, regrade the front yard and install a drain system for the gutters downspouts . The lot slopes in the backyard toward the rear of the house and the front and side yards at flat. So I have probably spent 70 to grand I haven't even started the refinishing project . I don't have the time to build out a basement , so I am probably looking at 30 to 50 G . For the total cost of the project I would sell the house and buy a larger house with a nice ground level rec room, additional bedroom or what ever I was planning to do with the finished basement