Split Level Basement Moisture - Help (floor, roof, heaters, insulating)
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The vast majority of leakage problems into basements are from poor drainage and with not having gutters i'm sure that's the problem right there. I'd get them on and see what happens from there, I bet it may just stop it.
The vast majority of leakage problems into basements are from poor drainage and with not having gutters i'm sure that's the problem right there. I'd get them on and see what happens from there, I bet it may just stop it.
Ordinarily I'd probably agree except this is turning into a nightmare. There's old wood siding under the vinyl siding, most of which is rotting away.
On the other side of the house (where we have yet to put gutters on) has leaking French doors hung improperly, and carpet fungus inside (a clear indicator of the concrete underneath having moisture problems).
Gutters account for maybe 30% of the water that can contact the lower building envelope or perimeter of the footprint. They are a great idea,but, you obviously have to make some solid decisions about the waterproofing and drainage of your foundation wall and the lower interface of your building envelope/weather cladding.
Don't wait till fall!
Skip the carpet for now. Also, forget any of the engineered hardwoods. Consider ceramic tiles, concrete stains, and stuff that won't have places where mold can grow. Get your basics under control. THEN go back in and try stuff.
Sound advice. Downspouts and grading ASAP. Hopefully there is a floor drain on the lower level and you can install a de-humidifyer. Don't create an environment favorable to mold growth by putting down even "cheap" carpet. If the floor you are wanting to cover is concrete consider using a commercial quality water sealant prior to putting down any flooring (not Thompson's).
Ordinarily I'd probably agree except this is turning into a nightmare. There's old wood siding under the vinyl siding, most of which is rotting away.
On the other side of the house (where we have yet to put gutters on) has leaking French doors hung improperly, and carpet fungus inside (a clear indicator of the concrete underneath having moisture problems).
Where's that lotto ticket?
SMG:
Is the wood siding underneath the vinyl siding still wet and rotting? If it is, then water is still penetrating the wall(s) and you have to solve that problem. Find out were the water is entering and stop it. The wood siding will then just turn into dry rot. Much of you wall problems will be over then.
You will likely rot from moisture before the lotto ticket comes through.
Since part of your home is "below grade", you are going to get some "moisture through the concrete. I would agree with the member here who recommended concrete waterproofing all of the walls and floors. Your french door, does it have a drain outside in front of it? If it dossn't, there is a problem staring you in the face. Any water that collects in front of the door must be drained away. You may want to consider putting over a small water diverter above that doorway and drain away the water in front of the entryway.
Also, unfortunately investing in a very good dehumidifier is a must and drain it directly out of the house to a drain pipe buried in the soil taking the mositure out and away from the building. Otherwise, you will be empting pans of water every day and this is a pain, particularly when you go on vacation. Ya think?
It seems to me you may live in Mass, so you may want to look into a small woodburning stove for the below grade part of the home like a Vermont Castings Resoulte where you can open the front and enjoy the fire or close it at night when you retire. Nothing like a good wood stove to remove moisture from the air in a home. Of course, you will need to devote about a 4' square fireproofed area like bricks about 4' high on two walls in a corner of the room with the stove on a heavy duty tiled 4 x 4 base glued directly to the concrete. Don't buy a large woodstove since you will heat yourself out of the area, so be sure to match the size of the stove to the square footage you want to heat downstairs.
This, of course, will require a chimney on the outside of the house, either on the sides or the rear of the home. A simple block and flue tiled chimney should only cost about $2000 installed. If you want to brick over the blocks, it will likely cost you about 75 cents per brick plus labor. (think about 5000 bricks at least.) Remember to have a "hat installed on the top to keep out rain and rodents, including racoons and squirrels. Remember to never have stove pipe hooked into a chimney to have more than two 90 degree turns and keep you stove pipes cleaned twice yearly accordingto creosote build up and the chimney cleaned once yearly. Hotter fires create less creosote which is why it is so important to match the size of the woodstove properly to the area heated below the grade.
Thank you, all a great points and all things we recognize. We know gutters and downspouts are Priority #1. We will be directing the water to the other side of the house and digging trenches to make sure it is flowing away from the foundation.
What about putting new flooring in? We need something there and would like carpet, even if it's cheap-o carpet. If we get a good vapor barrier and lay it on the vinyl, then add moisture resistant padding and carpet, will that suffice?
Would not recommend carpet anywhere below grade, ie downstairs. I would recommend a vinyl or ceramic tiled floors. Spend the money on ceramic tile and then throw down area rugs. Tile adheres very well to concrete and you can waterproof it first.
You won't be fight mold and mildew embedded in even "cheapo carpet". You can easily tile yourself. There are some good DYI videos and you can buy a ceramic tile saw for under $100. Tiling can become vey easy and fun for the homeowner. Get kneepads and when you are finished you will want to start on every bathroom in the house, flooors and walls!
Ceramic tiling isn't rocket science, as they say, and it lends class to any home.
Phase I is complete (see first photos). We installed a nice perimeter drainage system in the front of the house. The gutters and downspouts divert directly into the drainage pipes and shoot a good 15 feet away from the house, on the side (away from the grade).
We are also putting in a ground water drainage system in front of a (soon to come) retaining wall. We think these things will successfully divert the water away from the front of the house.
Brian: We have a dehumidifier - which I have used. Not sure if we are financially able to drill it into the ground outside. In the winter we are getting a pellet stove - we already have a chimney in the lower living section.
The wood siding is no longer wet.
Now, my preface to this is: Running is not an option.
The inside of the house is also a disaster, from years of poor upkeep. While I think the basics of current 'moisture' is condensation from the concrete (which we're tackling), years of poor exterior drainage have ruined the interior. I need to pull up my big girl pants and have someone tell me how bad of a situation we're facing (see other photos).
These are shots of the living room, as it currently sits. There's a 'bump out' ledge in the middle of the room. The close ups show the baseboards, very apparent mold on the sheetrock behind the baseboards. We have no idea how far up the wall it goes.
The wall under the stairs abuts a crawlspace - there is noticeable mold in that crawlspace, as well. However, the crawlspace stays 'dry' aside from a minor pipe sweating - we know this because during heavy rains we've checked. Which, to me, means the moisture issue is trapped between these walls.
I need some guidance and some sound advice. I know it's bad - I don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. My husband and I are both 30, making less than $40K a year in New England. We just don't have $40,000 for renovations. Unfortunately this space is our entire living area (the only thing upstairs are bedrooms and a small full bath). So we need to find a way to fix it.
Help, help help ... My gut tells me there is no choice but to rip out the walls... my checking account won't make it through that. What are baby steps we can take - if there are any?
Moisture on inside wallboard usually means that outside cold air is meeting inside warm air. You need to find out if those walls are insulated by opening part on one. No insulation? Try injecting foam. Keep in mind there are firestops in the walls so you must inject above and below them.
If you discover fiberglasss insulation in the walls, perhaps they lack a vapor barrier. If this is so, you will need to install one which means ripping off all of the wallboard.
Other than those two problems(solutions), perhaps someone else can make a suggestion here.
btw, if you can't do wallboad installation yourself, you may want to consider tongue and groove, or ship lapped, finished pine as this look is very rustic and all you have to do is nail it on to furring strips and then stain it. Then run a 1/4 round molding(no pun intended)at the base at the floor and a nice deocrative molding where the pineboards meet the ceiling. The most difficult part of this job is cutting the molding to fit in the corners correctly but there are many DYI's to show you how to miter in the corners.
Once again, good luck.
Last edited by brien51; 07-06-2010 at 01:31 PM..
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