Water in the basement?

[fryjack2]

Sorry this is long.  We bought our house ( built in 1954 or 56) a year and a half ago.  Its a funky house in that it has 5 levels of living but some are only 3-6 steps up or down if that makes sense. Kind of a split level but not. 

Before we bought, we had a water specialist come out who found no evidence of water in the basement.  He saw a spot on one wall that looked like the wall had been opened up and maybe something had been done there in the past.  The owners said they didn't have water in the basement ever. 

I think I remember a dehumidifier in the mudroom level during one walk through, but am not positive.  This summer, we noticed one wall in the mudroom buckling and had a vertical crack.  Its made out of basically particle board or something. Not even drywall material. It didn't feel wet, nor did we ever see any water.  It has a window on that wall. 

We had someone come out and check it out.  They opened the wall and found the wooden studs to be pretty rotted ( typical for a house this old) and the very start of mold on one small spot of the particle board. We ripped out the whole wall and didn't find any more mold. Nor did we find any water or wetness. 

Its been open for about a month and we've had 3 significant rain storms.  No water or dampness. 

We had 2 companies come out and tell us basically that we needed a big central dehumidifier that involves drains to the outside and costs tens of thousands of dollars. 

I'm not convinced of that and think its over kill.  People I've asked have said to just run a dehumidifier.  I'm wondering if that's what we should have been doing as its a basement and the door to that room goes to the garage and the garage is pretty old (plaster like walls, garage door doesn't come all the way down tot he ground in certain parts).  We have a small moisture water bead container thing in our gym ( another part of the basement with tiled floor) and it has taken an entire year to fill with water.  

Has anyone had similar experience and what have you done?  Thanks for reading the novel

[Deleted]

My basement (finished) gets super humid in the summer. We have a freestanding dehumidifier with a hose that runs straight to the sump pump pit. Before using the hose, we were emptying that bad boy daily, which is like a gallon at a time. In the winter it never runs.

[whitemerlot]

I think a dehumidifier in a basement during warm months is always a good idea. We have always used one and it just keeps it from smelling and feeling like a basement.

[simpsongal]

Dec 9, 2019 0:07:59 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

My basement (finished) gets super humid in the summer. We have a freestanding dehumidifier with a hose that runs straight to the sump pump pit. Before using the hose, we were emptying that bad boy daily, which is like a gallon at a time. In the winter it never runs.

ditto this. I’d try it for a while before implementing something $$$

[dr.girlfriend]

We have a dehumidifier in our basement, that drains to a utility sink so we don't have to empty it all the time. It definitely does a ton to reduce moisture down there. One of the workmen unplugged it during our reno and the basement immediately got musty. We also got a sump pump, though, because in very heavy rains (only like hurricane-level rains, but still too often for our taste) we would get water on the basement floor. That was still under $5k though IIRC. IDK why you would need a whole-house dehumidifier.

[dr.girlfriend]

I can recommend this one:

smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073VBWKJZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Deleted]

This is the one that we have. We've been using it since 2015 and it works great.

smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AU7GYXA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

[flygirl]

We’ve never had water on our house, but we run a dehumidifier in our basement during the summer. I would just do that and see if it helps.

[RockNVoll]

Dehumidifiers in basements are generally a good idea. We've had them in both houses we've owned. It's easiest if you can set it up to auto drain rather than having to empty it manually all the time. I'd try that before I spent $$$$$.