I have a bad basement, It leaks when it reans but not alot. The main problem is the mold. I can not store anything there because mold will cover everything. How do I deal with this problem? Will a dehumidifer help at all? All replys welcome. Thanks.
You have to clean all the existing mold. Bleach is one of the best products, but the fumes can be overwhelming if you use too much. There may be safer commercial products. I'm sure others may have experience with them.
Will a dehumidifer help at
Yes
A dehumidifier will work to stop mold growth. Bleach is necessary to kill mold. Get a garden sprayer and spray it down then wash with TSP. If mold is thick use full strength or dilute 50- 75 %
Moisture = Mold.
You need to take care of the moisture.
Step one is to keep it away from your basement. The ground MUST slope away from your foundation at least 10-20 feet in all directions, no exceptions. Local ground conditions can require special treatment, including adding draining around the base of the foundation on the outside. Make sure all downspouts are routing the water at least as far as well.
Next step is to reduce any remaining moisture in the basement. Note: you will have little luck with this if you don't do the first step first. Ventilation and a dehumidifier are your tools. If you don't have a sump in the basement, you may need to have some work done there adding a drainage system and sump.
Good Luck
A good dehumidifier will do the trick, but first clean off all the mold and then wipe down with bleach. Get yourself a digital hygrometer so that you can track the moisture content in your basement. This will help you identify to what extent the dehumidifer needs to be run.
Gee, so if your car develops a small oil leak or coolant leak that you cannot seem to stop I would assume you would immediately stop driving your car. Even basements with no actively flowing leaks can yield high moisture environments. Further fixing the leaks permanently may not be possible (unless you have money burning holes in your pocket) depending upon the construction of your home, the height of the water table, and the enviromental humidity. I guess Tim could be better off moving going with your line of reasoning. Sometimes a Band-Aid solution is reasonable when the only other option is an open heart surgery that may not leave you better off.
Trying to fix a moisture problem with a dehumidifier without first looking at the reason for the moisture is foolish in my opinion. It makes for more sense to start with the basics. Once you know what the problems are, then and only then should you consider the fix. In some cases it will be a dehumidifier. But just adding a dehumidifier when there are other fixable problems is usually not the right choice.
In this case it appears that the owner is looking for solutions and has not indicated that other solutions have been considered. Phisherman may have overstated the case, but he is right.
I have to agree with Phish. One can try bleach and a dehumidifier without harming anything. However, the dehumidifier is dealing with the symptom. It may not remove enough moisture to balance the moisture intrusion. A careful investigation of the water intrusion problem is needed. TB
Thank you for all you responces, The water leaking is coming from a corner of my basement. It is not a bad leak and Leaks from time to time, It is a problem that will have to be fixed and I have options to do so. The main problem is the mold. I will have to try using bleach or some other product. The mold is bad and went unnoticed as we have not used the basement for sometime and just stored some garage sale items there for a couple month. The items were all covered in newspaper or plastic in boxes that were as well sealed. I opened the boxes the other day before having the garage sale to discover mold growing on everthing.
Yes - that's a good idea. I got a cheap ($18) RadioShack digital hygrometer then used it to calibrate the dial on the dehumidifier so that 9 = 20% and 5 = 50% and 2 = 80%. I had mold ever since the basement flooded after a hurricane and it seemed once it got a toehold the dehumidifier & bleach combo was the only cure.
CV
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