1) Hydraulic cement may work. Or if this is an active water source, you 'll have better luck with a polyurethane or epoxy injection repair. These are the preferred systems used by many new home builders. 2) Watertite by Zinsser can be tinted, so you don't need to paint twice.

We are finishing our basement for our own use right now -- but before this -- I've always said that buyers would love our home - until they saw the basement. We have put thousands of dollars into our home: new windows, new cherry floors, new kitchen (addition), all new bathrooms, etc... But, when you walk downstairs to the basement you are greeted by nasty walls with seepage stains and dusty concrete floors. We had the walls taken care of (rod holes and cracks) but they are still ugly. Eventually, they will be insulated and dry-walled. My DH insists on a powder room even though it was not plumbed for one -- it was $1,700 for the sink and toilet rough in. I don't expect to ever recoup the investment on our finished basement when it is done -- but we could never sell it the way it is. At a minimum -- I would paint the floor and walls so it looks nice -- that is after making sure walls don't leak or seep. Another interesting option is spray painting the ceiling black -- our friends did this to their quasi-finished basement and I think it looks great.

Yes, you still need baseboards. It visually finishes the wall to floor. You can use a simple, plain wood plank molding. All square edges. It's inexpensive. You can achieve your industrial feel by leaving pipes and heat and air ducts silver, if exposed. You can also add a few industrial accessories for that design wanted. You can use a semi-transparent stain from Home Depot, follow directions, to freshen ordinary cement and to add a touch of color to warm the space. If budget allows. I would choose a light warm color for walls, as basements tend to be darker. Basements already have a gray, colder feeling to them. They can feel dreary with gray walls and natural concrete. I would want a happy space by using a warm color tone paint. A space you will still feel good in, for exercising.

No heat in a basement in Chicago. That's brave. Here is my issue. The heating coils/wires/mats will heat the flooring nicely but it will heat the EARTH much more. Do you have plans regarding insulation UNDERNEATH the heating elements? You will want to figure this part out or else you will be loosing 50%-80% of the heat to the earth (we call this a heat sink...because heat sinks into and never comes out). The tiny bit left will enter the tiles. Your energy bills will skyrocket if you do not insulation UNDERNEATH the heat. This insulation will add $$$$ to the installation bill. Once you have seen the cost of this as a TOTAL price, you will realize it might be faster, cheaper, easier to add baseboard heaters to the space and use the vinyl planks you want. Or cork floating flooring + cork underlayment + a baseboard heat = super warm, quiet, fast, cheap(er) project. I often see installation for the heating coils/mats/tubes come in around $15 - $25/sf. And then you have to level the space...and add the cost of the insulation UNDERNEATH the heating...and then you have to purchase the flooring...have it installed, etc. This gets very expensive very, very quickly.