Lawrence wrote:


Alvin wrote:
Hello,

I recently bought a house that has all the main bedrooms in the basement.
You can see the foundation wall in all of the bedrooms. It acts as a
ledge. All the walls are finished and there appears to be drywall overtop
of the foundation wall.

My question is that I have noticed a soft spot on one of the foundation
portion of the wall in one of the bedroom (the drywall on the foundation
wall) and I am not sure what I should do about it. The soft spot is under
the window and above the electric baseboard heater. It doesn't feel
symmetrical. I'm not sure how to describe it...it's like as if the
gyp-rock has gone away (dissolved?) leaving the paper part of the dry
way.

The soft spot doesn't appear newly formed. There is no sign (smell,
touch, or sight) of mold. I have an 17L (30 pint) dehumidifier with
digital RH meter set to 60%.

I'm not sure what or if I should do anything about this? What could be
some possible causes for this? And what action(s) should I be taking.

It sound like water damage. since it is under the window you have to
guess that either the window leaks or perhaps was left open during a
rain. Usually you have to find the source of the leak before it is
worth repairing it. Since this seems to be an isolated incident I
think you can just go ahead with the repair. this means removing the
damaged area and installing new wall board. Just make sure that
whoever uses that room is instructed to keep the window closed during a
rain.

I agree. I think it's simply water damage from the window being left open.
I've checked the other walls in that room as well as around the house and
cannot find the same problem.

What I'm surprised about is that there is no visible signs of water damage
around the window or on the wall. My guess is that the damage was done
awhile ago and was simply painted over?

I plan on repairing it myself once I find the right reading material or
video online. Depending on what I find out, I may not do it myself and get
a professional. It all depends on how much expertise is needed to remove
the electric baseboard heater and repair the wall.

Alvin