Most of the area of my basement I want to paint currently has drywall, but there are two exposed outside walls that are concrete block.

The concrete block walls are currently painted and really don't look that bad, the paint is not flaking or peeling, there are a few small "chunks" out of the wall, but nothing awful--for a basement. The color is just ugly and needs to be freshened up. Everything I read online leads me to believe I need to completely remove all the current paint in order to re-paint the concrete block. Is this the case? Since the current paint seems to be in good shape, this will take forever!

Any other suggestions?

Perhaps useful additional information
I live in Northern Delaware
We just moved in in November, but thus far the basement has remained dry. The previous owner did have dehumidifiers down there, but I personally don't find it that humid---for a basement.
I don't know if the walls were previously seal or what kind of paint is currently on them...

 

Welcome to the forums.

I'm hearing that you want to paint the wall for the look, not as a means of stopping water infiltration, which is good. That said, keeping the water away on the outside with gutters, downspout extensions and grading can help increase the life span of your paint.

Hang tight and we'll see what the paint guru, marksr, has to say but I think you should be able to paint over what you have, though a primer coat might be a good idea since you're not sure what's already on the wall.

 

I would assume what is currently on the block is latex paint. To know for sure you can do this test - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/pa...latex-oil.html Generally sound latex paint doesn't need a primer when it's time to recoat.

Coatings like Drylok can only be applied over bare masonry but there is no such restriction for latex finish paints.

 

Thank you! Glad to hear!!