Humidity and Your Basement

You might think that, since you don’t have rivers running through your basement or puddles forming on the carpet, that you don’t have water issues down there. But ambient moisture - or humidity - can cause just as much of a disruption to your life. Take it from me, someone who just spent a weekend plugging in more and more Air Wick diffusers and yelling “WHAT is that SMELL” at my husband.

Think about how you feel when you go outside on a humid day. Sweaty, sticky, kind of gross? That’s how your basement feels, too. And unlike you, your basement can’t just take a shower; instead, the humidity develops a kind of cumulative effect and the whole room starts to get smelly. This is because humidity helps mold grab hold of anything organic (wooden joists, carpet, even cardboard boxes) and start to grow. The result is that smell.

To combat mold and prevent it from taking over your basement, you have to cut off the two things it needs in order to thrive: food and moisture. 

The food, in this case, is organic materials like paper and wood. You can’t exactly get rid of the wooden building materials holding your house up, but you can minimize organics. In my case, we need to get rid of the carpet installed by the previous owners and replace it with a waterproof, inorganic flooring. Ayers has multiple options for that, varying from a carpet look to wood-look planks, and they’re all designed specifically to be used in areas with moisture.

While moisture can’t be prevented, it can be controlled. A dehumidifier will keep the humidity in your basement below the level that allows mold to grow. This means the smells, dampness, and general gross feeling will be gone. We have a variety of dehumidifiers depending on the size of your basement and capacity needed to keep the humidity under control.

Just because you don’t have puddles doesn’t mean you don’t have water. Call today to schedule your free inspection and get your basement feeling fresh for fall.