Dealing With Basement Condensation
It’s the middle of a hot, muggy Mid-Atlantic summer. You’re sitting on your screened porch with a glass of tea filled to the brim with ice. The outside of the glass is not just foggy, it is dripping, water droplets falling into other water droplets, forming even bigger droplets that cascade down to a pool of water on the table.
The same thing might be happening in your basement. A common source of excess moisture in your basement is condensation. When warm moist air in your house hits to cool foundation walls in your basement, the water condenses onto the surface of the walls and then pools in your basement, creating an ideal environment for the growth of mold and mildew.
How can you tell if the moisture in your basement is from condensation? Tape a large piece of aluminum foil to the basement wall, and leave there for a day. When you check it the next day, if there is water on the outer surface of the foil, you have a condensation problem. If it’s between the foil and the wall, then the water is coming from an outside source.
A wet basement is a serious problem, and you should call a foundation repair company for mold remediation service if mold has already started to take hold in your basement. But, if it has not gotten to that point, there are a few things you can do yourself to ease the problem.
Air out the basement by opening doors, windows, and blowing fans. This may or may not help depending on how humid it is outside.
If, like it often is in the Mid-Atlantic, the weather outside is extremely humid, consider purchasing a heavy duty dehumidifier for your basement, and make sure to empty the tank on a regular basis.
In colder months, turning up the heat in the basement can warm up the walls and prevent condensation from forming.
If these DIY methods don’t work, and you still have excessive moisture in your basement, a foundation repair company can diagnose the problem, waterproof you basement, and even provide a water management solution to ensure water is properly draining away from your foundation.
AA Action Waterproofing is a local foundation repair company with the experience to handle the unique soil and weather conditions in the Mid-Atlantic region, and every waterproofing project comes with a lifetime warranty.