Those of us who have basements in our homes see it as either a curse or a blessing, depending on the condition of it. You can leave the drywall and carpet out of the basement and use it for storage like many homeowners do or you can put it in and use it for an extra bedroom, family room, or an area to entertain guests. The bad thing about using the basement sometimes, though, is that if it is not properly waterproofed, you can have some moisture and humidity issues to deal with later on if you are not dealing with them already. No one wants to stay in a humid, smelly basement for long and this will turn off any guests that you might want to have over in that area.
Take care of any indoor water issues first. This can include bursting water pipes, hot water heater (that really should be in the basement and nowhere else) or if you use a portion of the basement as a laundry room, it can be a malfunctioning clothes washer. Make sure that your dryer has a vent so that the excess humidity will be directed to the outside of the house. It is also a good idea to never hang clothes up to dry in the basement, unless it is just a single article or two. Water evaporates from the clothing and settles into the air, creating humidity. Clothes should also be dried in the electric dryer as soon as they are done washing to help reduce this problem.
Another thing you should do, especially if you use the basement for a laundry room or if you have an extra bathroom in it, is install an exhaust vent. You can do this in more than one spot if you need to, depending on the size of your basement. This will displace some of the humidity to the outside of the house and not allow it to be soaked up by the ceiling.
Another thing to worry about when you have a humid basement is mold. Mold loves to grow on any dead organic material and once it starts growing, you will be hard pressed to get rid of it without removing the source of the water first. If you have water issues in the basement, make sure these are taken care of before putting any carpet down, since carpet that becomes molded is hard to clean and any padding underneath it that becomes contaminated will have to be torn up and thrown away.
Showing posts with label basement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basement. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Getting Rid of Basement Moisture
Not all homes have basements, but for those of us who do have them, they can either be a blessing or a curse. You can use this area of your house for many different things, including an extra bedroom, a family room, entertainment area, laundry room, and just about anything else you can think of. If the basement is humid or has an odor, though, you will want to spend as little time as possible there and you will lose all of your basement’s potential.
Basement humidity problems can come from a variety of sources. It can come from keeping wet clothing in the washer too long on a regular basis, having the clothes dryer improperly vented to the outside of the house or just not vented at all, from water leaks inside the house, or from water leaking in from the outside.
If the problem is an indoor one, you can consider installing a dehumidifier in the basement to help alleviate some of the problem. Having energy efficient windows can also help with reducing humidity and so can installing an exhaust fan in the ceiling to help push some of the moist air outside the house. If you are going to install an exhaust fan, though, be sure to pick one that is appropriate for the size basement that you have. It should even be a little stronger, if you can afford it. Using the minimum is often not recommended and problems with new home constructions are often due to the builder using cheap (but building code approved) products.
Fixing leaks in the concrete walls of your basement used to be time consuming and expensive, but most cracks in concrete walls can now be fixed with an injection of concrete by using a normal caulking gun that you can purchase from a hardware store. You should be able to do this yourself without much difficulty, but if you doubt your ability, find someone who has experience with these things.
If water is coming in the basement from outside the house or through the windows, consider having the window wells replaced and the soil around the home piled up a little higher so water does not settle around the foundation and form a puddle. This is usually the cause of water seeping into the basement from the outside, but another problem could be ground water. You have a little less control over ground water, but you can install a drainage system to help with this, too.
Basement humidity problems can come from a variety of sources. It can come from keeping wet clothing in the washer too long on a regular basis, having the clothes dryer improperly vented to the outside of the house or just not vented at all, from water leaks inside the house, or from water leaking in from the outside.
If the problem is an indoor one, you can consider installing a dehumidifier in the basement to help alleviate some of the problem. Having energy efficient windows can also help with reducing humidity and so can installing an exhaust fan in the ceiling to help push some of the moist air outside the house. If you are going to install an exhaust fan, though, be sure to pick one that is appropriate for the size basement that you have. It should even be a little stronger, if you can afford it. Using the minimum is often not recommended and problems with new home constructions are often due to the builder using cheap (but building code approved) products.
Fixing leaks in the concrete walls of your basement used to be time consuming and expensive, but most cracks in concrete walls can now be fixed with an injection of concrete by using a normal caulking gun that you can purchase from a hardware store. You should be able to do this yourself without much difficulty, but if you doubt your ability, find someone who has experience with these things.
If water is coming in the basement from outside the house or through the windows, consider having the window wells replaced and the soil around the home piled up a little higher so water does not settle around the foundation and form a puddle. This is usually the cause of water seeping into the basement from the outside, but another problem could be ground water. You have a little less control over ground water, but you can install a drainage system to help with this, too.
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