Smells in the Basement
I have multiple smell problems in my basement. A bit of information to assist: The floor is a concrete slab The outer walls are made of cinder block About 80 percent of the outer walls are under ground (on the outside of the house) There are two rooms in the basement, a laundry room and a finished room (currently used as a bedroom) It is bare cinder block wall on the exterior wall in my laundry room It is drywall over wood frame wall against the cinder block (with fiberglass insulation) in the finished room The laundry room has some bare concrete and some vinyl stick on tiles as a floor The finished room has concrete slab (unpainted and untreated) covered with carpet padding and then carpet The carpet in the finished room is about four years old I have had the entire basement tested for mold. mildew, etc. with the results showing none. I am not sure when the house was built. Our house is near Annapolis, Maryland The two smell issues are as follows: The laundry room always has a pretty strong musty smell. In the winter when it is cold, the smell is not as strong. As the weather warms up the smell gets stronger and stronger. I have read that the warm weather draws moisture into the basement threw the walls creating the smell and that a dehumidifier will eliminate. Dehumidifier removes a lot of water daily and may help a bit with the smell but does not get rid of it. The finished room has an odor problem that does not seem to be in the entire room but is certainly present in one corner of the room where the two exterior walls meet. The smell is not really strong on the walls but pretty strong in a 4X4 section of the floor in the corner. My wife smells it all of the time, I can smell it when I put my nose top the carpet. My wife ha a nightstand near that corner and can smell the odor in cloths that she keeps in the nightstand. This section is in the right corner of the room. In the left corner of the room, we have a 4X8 walk-in closet. She smell the odors from both rooms in the walk-in closet and also smells it in her clothes that are in there. Any help with either of these issues would be greatly appreciated.
Topic by garyinfante | last reply