basement mold solution?

[rieferman]

my neighbor asked me to get your advice for him

his basement really smells very musty. if you leave a cardboard box down there, mold grows on it. they go down there frequently as the laundry is down there, and since it's their path to an attached TV room and their patio out back. there is not a water issue in terms of really seeing moisture on the ground after rain etc. but it is veyr humid down there at all times. the house is 160 years old with stone foundation.

the musty smell has gotten so bad, they're worried about it. concerned it could be a mold problem etc.

they had a "dry basement" type of guy come out. he said since outside of house is properly graded, since there's never any standing water or moisture visible through the floor, that it's just a case of lots of moisture entering all over the place (walls/floor). He advises that a super duper dehumidifier would dry it right out and end the problem. He's proposing (after some haggling) a $2600 charge for the unit, including installation.

He had a whole song and dance with it too.

It just isn't ringing true for me for some reason. My neighbor is a smart/cautious guy too, and his eyebrow was arching too.

What say you GJ?

 

[TRC51]

I have that smell in my finished basement too. Then I realized my dehumidifier was down. Got it working again and the smell went away. The only thing I need to do now is get a better, more quiet, more efficient dehumidifier. Just one from sears or something at $300. That should be all I need though.

 

[Ezzie]

This assumes you are in a northern climate where basements are typically 6-8' below the finished grade. I had a similar problem but with a much newer dwelling - constructed in early 70's. The problem is that in those days they didn't use any vapour barriers to block the movement of moisture out of the ground and through the concrete. When I stripped the drywall off the stud walls, it was so wet you could bend it in half without it breaking. The insulation was saturated with moisture rendering it ineffective. The studs were laying directly against the concrete thus wicking the moisture out and through. Mold feeds off paper and wood. Since the ground in the summer time is cooler than the air temp in the basement, moisture moves towards the warmth as warmer air can hold more moisture. About the only solution to prevent the moisture movement is a vapour barrier.

What I did was lay 1" of polystyrene (RSI = 5) directly on the floor and taped all the seams with Tuck Tape. Then a layer of 5/8" plywood over it. I then framed the walls with 2"x 4" studs on top of the new subfloor (so the wood doesn't touch the concrete) and leaving them about 1.5" off the concrete walls. I then had a local insulation contractor come in and spray on a 4-5" layer of closed cell urethane foam (about R27) from the floor up to and including the joist headers to make it completely air tight.

Expensive but it is now dry as a bone.

 

[TRC51]

Wow... better solution above. I missed the part about the stone foundation the first time I read through your post.

 

[Bubbles]

I would buy the 300 dollar Dehumidifier first. I have one I dump it every 2nd day.
I should actually have 2 running down there.

You can also get an humidex but that will **** all the dampness and heat too.

http://www.humidexatlantic.com/content/faq/

I have a wood stove down there so I really only run it couple months a year.

 

[Gary S]

My basement used to smell musty too for a few days after each rain. This year I pulled out the carpet and tossed it in the garbage and now I don't have any smell anymore.
If you have carpet in the basement, I suggest getting rid of it. If you have a smell with no carpet down there, use a dehumidifier whenever you smell it is damp.

 

[walrus]

Instead of a dehumidifier I'd suggest a heat pump hot water heater. I have one made by the guys who developed this one, its an earlier model. My electric bills went down and my basement gets dehumidified
http://www.northrdt.com/Geyser_Benefits.html

 

[rieferman]

Nice, you guys are thinking like I'm thinking, that's exactly what I told him. I figured that for $400-$600 total you could:

- get 2 nice, modern dehumidifiers (he says his single unit, which is older, runs and never stops, but it's still humid down there),
- run their hose directly into the sump pump well,
- get rid of carpet,
- put all storage in rubbermade containers,
- do a really good cleaning of the place for starters (with bleach on the floor even if you wanted to)
- maybe a ceiling vent (like a bathroom type vent) above washer/dryer unit down there to get that hot humid air out when doing a load of wash.

Worst case scenario if that doesn't work, is you sell the dehumidifiers on craigs list for modest loss, and implement a more costly solution.

Thumbs up or down on this set of steps?

 

[benjamming]

It sounds like a good set of steps to me.
Is his HVAC in the basement or does the house not have it?

 

[rieferman]

no central ac, just radiators for heat in winter, so no easy way to tie in the air return or anything like that

 

[Boyd Who]

I have a 100 y/o house with a stone basement as well. Manitoba is VERY humid in the summer, and this year we noticed a musty smell in the basement. We bought a $300 dehumidifier from Sears and stuck it downstairs. We have to empty the thing twice a day (only holds 9 litres) and after a week or so the smell was completely gone. The whole house smells better, in fact. At some point we're going to have it drain directly into the floor drain.

 

[V4F]

I assume the dryer is properly vented to the outside?

I agree with others, 1 or 2 good quality dehumidifiers should help the problem quite a bit.

 

[djd99]

Nice, you guys are thinking like I'm thinking, that's exactly what I told him. I figured that for $400-$600 total you could:

- get 2 nice, modern dehumidifiers (he says his single unit, which is older, runs and never stops, but it's still humid down there),
- run their hose directly into the sump pump well,
- get rid of carpet,
- put all storage in rubbermade containers,
- do a really good cleaning of the place for starters (with bleach on the floor even if you wanted to)
- maybe a ceiling vent (like a bathroom type vent) above washer/dryer unit down there to get that hot humid air out when doing a load of wash.

Worst case scenario if that doesn't work, is you sell the dehumidifiers on craigs list for modest loss, and implement a more costly solution.



Thumbs up or down on this set of steps?

That's exactly what I would do, there's no way I'd spend 2 grand when You know there's a cheaper solution that will give you the same end result. Good advice.