On Sep 2, 8:43 pm, car crash wrote:
I need help here !
I bought a brand new home last year with a cold storage room in the
basement. The builder left all kinds of wood in there when they
poured the concrete. I noticed upon moving in and long after that the
mustiness in that room was unbelievable. I had the builder rip out
all the wood and install 2 new vents that were stuck open instead of
the flap vents he installed which allowed NO circulation of air. When
they ripped out of the wood the guy told me that that wood was
basically dripping wet it was so humid.
Well 1 month after new vents and ripping out all the wood, I bought a
thermometer that can read humidity and as soon as I installed it, it
went right up to 100% humidity !!! The mustiness smell is still
there for sure and my wife thinks is sickening and disgusting. So
here are my questions.

1-Why is the humidity levels so high in that room so high to begin
with?
2-How can I ventilate better ?
3-How do I get the smell out of there?
4-Is there a health risk ?

Any other help would be greatly appreciated.
Ottawa, Canada.


Being from SoCal maybe you could explain what a "cold storage room"
is?

Like a "root cellar" or a "wine cellar"? To take advantage of the
stable & relatively cool temp of below grade earth?

to answer your questionss....

1-Why is the humidity levels so high in that room so high to begin
with?

I would think that concrete was placed without a vapor barrier to the
soil & water / vapor are migrating through the concrete.

2-How can I ventilate better ?

Of course AND you can dehumidify as well but won't these steps
negate the value of your cold storage room?

3-How do I get the smell out of there?

Get rid of the moisture & the smell with go away fairly quickly.

4-Is there a health risk ?

minor but if your wife doesn't like the smell (& who would?) I would
suggest getting a dehumidifier going ASAP but this really isn't much
of a solution since depending on the source of the moisture you could
be working against major water source.

What's the local drainage around the house like? Soil conditions?
Local stream?

Take a look at the plans for your house...do they mention a vapor
barrier? If yes, was it installed? If not, who did the design?

My guess is that you've got designed in or built in problem that the
builder is going to have to fix.

cheers
Bob