khoffsis asks,
Our basement is pretty humid and has moisture coming up through the concrete floors. The basement has a history of mold and flooding. From listening to The Money Pit, I know proper grading and gutter maintenance outside the home should prevent this. We had a basement expert come by and he said grading was not enough – a total overhaul was necessary and he wanted to install drain systems, a new sump pump, etc to address the moisture (our ultimate goal is to finish the basement). Is he right or is he just trying to sell his services?
Thanks for the tips. The west facing side of my house takes all the weather and I have one wall that gets wet. There is no standing water in the basement and it does not get “extremely” wet, but it does to a noticeable amount. I have noticed some efflorescence on the block. Several have told me to dry-lock the wall but I have also heard that enough water can push it off and allow mold to grow in behind it. I run a dehumidifier in the area and keep the percentage around 45% year round. There is a brick ledge on my home even though I used vinyl siding instead of brick and it seems water runs down and sits on that ledge. I have had an excavation come out and cut a drainage ditch and slope everything but it just still seems to get wet. They did not dig out to the footer and do anything with the outside of the wall as I am sure that is expensive. Any advice on what to do? One opinion was to just leave it alone and allow it to dry out when it does get wet.