Mouldy problem!
 

Hi guys, just after some advice really, we have a finished basement in our house and just today I was having a good old clean when I happened to put something away in one of the closets in the basement and I was greeted with a really strong damp smell. I started to move a few things and I could see that there is mould growing along the walls at the bottom of the wall. Now this is our first year living in this house and I'm guessing that this has been a problem in the past with this house, am I right in thinking that this is just a problem because of the climate here and the fact that it's been extremely humid? or is it a problem with the house? We do have a de-humidifyer running pretty much all the time, but obviously the closet doors are closed. This particular closet does have a little heater in and also holes along the bottom of the door for circulation which is why I'm pretty sure this isn't a new problem. There is also another huge walk-in closet/room which holds all the tanks, air exchanger, pipework etc, this room has also been very damp and the pipes were dripping in water and the walls (concrete) were wet! again do I just presume that because both of these rooms/closets are technically underground that we are always going to get this problem when its so humid or is it a much more sinister problem that needs looking at further. I'm going to empty the closet with the mould and clean the walls (with a face mask on) and not have things up against the walls and hope that this solves the problem, what do you guys thinks?? Thanks for the input
Bella

Re: Mouldy problem!
 

Is this on an outside wall ? If so it could be the vapour barrier. This is a plastic film that should be over the insulation bats, stapled to the studs and behind the wallboard. Often the v.b is not effective if the work was DIY. It also could be air circulation. The water dripping from the pipes is very likely the cold water pipe condensing the moist air. To fix this get some pipe insulation from you local hardware store. It is a foam tube with a slit in the side. It's about .89c a length. You simply rum your fingers down the slit, open it up enough to snap onto the pipe. It is likely the feed line which is a one inch bore. The pipe insulation comes in different sizes but the most common are 3/4" for the internal pipes and 1" for the feedline. Insulate all cold water pipes that you can get at. That should cure that problem. Clean the mould with a solution of bleach and water.

Re: Mouldy problem!
 

Thanks Simon, just had a few friends look at it this afternoon and they said the same that the pipes are just weeping because of the humidty and because they are from the well its freezing cold, so its just where the cold meets the heat. The mould is another problem, but one that we should be able to fix, OH is going to cut away the gyproc to get rid of it then we might be able to see whats going to behind. Neither problems are on outside walls they are both in effect under the ground. My dad arrives tomorrow from the UK so he is going to have a few jobs to do now lol, thanks again for the input! :thumbsup:

Re: Mouldy problem!
 

If they aren't on outside walls then it isn't the vapour barrier.

Re: Mouldy problem!
 

Do you mean "below grade" basement walls?....Those are "outside walls" if you do.

If the basement is properly sealed and has adequate grading and drainage on the outside then it shouldnt be particularly wet.

The advice to insulate the pipes is pretty good. Be carefull when you take the drywall down, you really dont want to spreading spores about, and certainly dont wany to bugger up the vapour barrier, assuming there is some, to the point it cant be patched up.

The dehumidifier should help in reducing the amount of moisture available to condense on the water system.

If you have mould forming behind the drywall on your outside walls that might lead to a Mike Holmes moment of having to tear everything down and check the insulation and vapour barrier.

If the insulation in the wall is wet, then it wont be doing a lot for you anyway, the vapour barrier should prevent atmospheric moisture getting to that side and should prevent it causing problems, so it sounds like it could also be possible that water is seeping in through the other side of the basement wall...

Is the basement totally finished? You can check for moisture coming through by taping a square of polythene vapour barrier to the wall with tuck tape, and cheking after a few days if water is appearing on the wall side (coming through) or on the room side (condensation from the air).