Basement Musty? That’s not Healthy!

Building science research has shown that the quality of indoor air is more often than not worse than that the air outside your home. The air inside the living spaces in your home can be contaminated several ways: pet dander, insect infestations, unwanted mammalian pests, excessive moisture, poor ventilation, radon gas, and toxic chemicals like smoke and cleaning agents. The basement usually has the worst air quality of any other space in your home thanks to what’s going on down there: wet and damp foundation surfaces and poor ventilation.

If your basement, cellar or crawlspace smells musty, this is a strong signal that you have a dampness issue. On the other hand, if you have noticeable areas of wetness on the ground, foundation walls or even on the ceiling, you actually have a water seepage problem. In a situation like this, if you want healthier basement air quality, than you absolutely have to remove the source of the water seepage by calling in a basement systems and waterproofing specialist.

How Basement Moisture Management can improve the Air Quality in Your Basement.

Actually, with diligent maintenance it’s simple to stop the harm that water damage will cause to a home and the air quality inside it – really easy, in fact. If more homeowners would consider moisture management a routine home maintenance task, moisture & water issues would disappear. It’s as easy as that.

A basement moisture management checklist is pretty simple to manage. Here a number of pointers for raising the level of basement air quality by managing moisture levels:

• Identify and fix damp or leaky pipes, faucets and valves.
• Consider methods to improve air flow and ventilation.
• Examine your basement for dampness and odors frequently
• Use commercial products that absorb moisture and dehumidifiers to dry the air especially in problem zones like laundry rooms, crawl areas, and attics— all locations that a major contributors to poor air quality.

If you want healthier air in your basement or cellars and you’re not inclined to “do-it-yourself” then the best way to create a maintenance-free, moisture free environment down under is to call a Basement System or Basement Waterproofing specialist. It’s worth the small investment.