Hi Doug,

thanks for the reply. If I understand you correctly, we need to dig up
around the house, provide a membrane and proper drainage, seal the
windows appropriately and then deal with any moisture.

Problem being that there are 3 owners (2 flats in the house) and no
desire or budget to undertake such a large investment (just getting a
backhoe in close to the house is going to tear up all the brick fences,
etc). From what I'm told, simply sealing the windows will only make the
humidity problem worse by trapping moisture in the basement and
encouraging mold and rot in the foundations (not sure if they're brick
or concrete).

I'll discuss it again with the neighbors and see what we can do.

Any other ideas/suggestions for an old house without proper drainage
and a damp basement?

Thor

On 2005-04-26 23:12:16 +0200, (Doug Miller) said:

In article , Thor Legvold wrote:
I've Google'd and read through most of what has been written on the
subject of controlling basement humidity. Before I run out and buy a
dehumidifier and/or plug in a heater or two, I had a question.

My house (brick & morter) was built in 1914 or thereabout. The walls of
the basement are not provided with a plastic barrier and modern
drainage system, nor do we plan on having it done. The current "fix" is
that all the basement windows are unfinshed - they are mounted and
shimmed, but with no moldings or isolation. Air circulates freely
around the frames and through the basement.

You need to fix that problem first, before you even think about a
dehumidifier. You're wasting a tremendous amount of energy, and if air
can circulate freely so can insects and mice.

I'm wondering if a dehumidifier is going to have any effect when it's
basically working against nature, as the air in the basement is the
same as the ambient air outside (more or less).

Of course not.

[...]

Can anyone shed some light of possible solutions to the described situation?

Stop the air infiltration problems around the windows.