House hunting- musty basement smell

[Hilltopmom]

We're house hunting.

We want a specific smallish neighborhood that my parents & my brother's family live in.

 

In this neighborhood, there are not usually a lot of houses for sale 2-4 per year.

 

There are a few styles of homes: large expensive ones lakefront (too pricey for us), small 3 bedroom ranches (too small for us), then the occasional 4-5 bedroom home not on the lake that are still pricey due to square footage, but reasonable for our area.

 

(I give all that background to explain, we are pretty limited in our choices. We want to move into town & we want this exact neighborhood)

 

Anyways, one is for sale now that would work well for us.

It needs some work & updating, but not immediately.

 

My concern is the musty smelling basement.

 

Many of the homes in the neighborhood get wet basements & all have sump pumps.

Some are much worse than others, some have added waterproofing, extra gutters, etc to help.

My parents sometimes have a tiny stream running through their's (really).

 

The one for sale has a one side finished basement (playroom style, nothing fancy, but Sheetrock walls & lineoleum floor). Carpeting on the stairs. The utility side is scary dark paneling, old.

But it's super musty down there (they had a dehumidifier but it wasn't running). Doing laundry down there will kind of suck, we do a lot. It's dark & depressing. (I've always had a nice basement I guess, our current one is above grade & sunny living space)

 

The Sheetrock does not have water stains or anything, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't get a stream running through, but from the smell, something is obviously damp down there.

 

Any chance we can ever get the smell out? Carpet I would rip out. I'm even open to ripping out the Sheetrock & paneling one day.

Would doing that, running dehumidifiers all the time help you think?

 

We do not need the finished side as a playroom, the house is big enough upstairs for extra rooms, much bigger than our current cramped house.

But I want the option of being able to use it for storage, or ride on toys in winter, etc. without a mildew smell & the health issues that can come from molds.

 

This house is perfect for us otherwise. And who knows when another will be in that neighborhood? Another would likely be musty too.

 

Any ideas?

Thanks

[TranquilMind]

I would avoid it, but then I have a mold-intolerant kid.   I would wait for a dry house or buy in a nearby neighborhood, knowing what I know now. 

 

We had to remove all sorts of building materials and run a dehumidifier 24/7 on one house we owned.   It isn't just the basement.  It can get into the ductwork and go everywhere. 

I would never store anything at all in a damp basement, unless it is totally hard surfaced and cannot be penetrated by mold (like hard plastic). 

[displace]

I, too, would avoid due to health concerns.

 

Can you consider a smaller home in the area but adding on?

[MyLittleBears]

I agree. A musty basement if the gift that keeps on giving. You won't be able to store anything there and it will continue to breed mold/mildew, etc. We had one in our previous house and it was such a pain.

[Jyhwkmama]

You would probably need to rip out everything in the basement and add/ upgrade a weeping system around the entire exterior of the house before refinishing.  $$$$

 

If it has that smell, there is water and mold somewhere.

[Pippen]

You would probably need to rip out everything in the basement and add/ upgrade a weeping system around the entire exterior of the house before refinishing.  $$$$

 

If it has that smell, there is water and mold somewhere.

 

I wouldn't buy until I'd had an estimate done on corrective measures, including any changes to the sheet rock, the drainage system and heating/cooling system. It might even be good to have a restoration company come out and give options/estimates, since they deal with flooded and musty basements. 

 

I will mention that proper air flow can make a HUGE improvement in the quality of air in unfinished basements. We run our furnace fan continually for that reason. 

[Hilltopmom]

Well, darn :(

 

I kinda thought so.

[sgo95]

Our previous house had no water issues in the basement, but the air was generally humid & would go musty if it was not in circulation. It was fine without a dehumidifier as long as the HVAC system was moving air around. But this was for a dry basement w/ a slight mustiness issue, not one with leaks.

[J-rap]

A couple things...  Do you plan to use it regularly?  I ask that because in our state, houses are required to have basements, but in the older homes (ours is over 100) they are often not used for anything besides laundry and storage.

 

Ours had a super musty smell.  It was old concrete walls and floors, with lots of little rooms built in.  We tore down all the walls, so it's just one big room.  We cleaned all the walls and floors with TSP, and then painted them.  We keep a de-humudifier down there and keep it running constantly in the summer here.  Now, we don't have any problems at all, but if we turn off the de-humidifier for even just one day in the summer, the smell slowly returns.  As long as we keep up with the de-humidifier it's fine.  We're able to store clothes down there and other items.  (off the floor in case there's any rain drainage, which happens a little bit every few years)  The clothes don't smell.

 

Our kids would use the basement for crafts, and we have a utility sink down there.  But actually we moved the laundry upstairs so that it would be convenient and in a brighter area. 

 

My parents have a basement that is used like a family room, with an extra bedroom and bathroom.  It is carpeted, and the carpeting is old.  It can smell very musty in the summer.  They have a de-humidifier, but my dd with asthma still couldn't be down there for too long.

 

Then, when my dd and her new husband were coming to live there for a few months (just moved back to the US), I decided to see what I could do.  I removed or cleaned absolutely everything that could have been collecting dust.  Every tiny item.  My parents had tons of books down there, and I vacuumed, washed and dried the covers of each one.  I washed all the walls and ceilings with a water/bleach solution, and the wood furniture and mattresses too.  I shampooed the carpet over and over again.  I shampooed the furniture that had upholstery.  I washed every curtain and rug.

 

When my dd moved in, lo and behold, she didn't react to allergens at all!  As long as we kept the de-humidifier running, she was fine.  Interestingly, if the de-humidifier is off, the musty smells returns fast.  But as long as everything is completely, thoroughly cleaned and the de-humidifier was on, there are no more problems.  It's been almost a year now and my dd doesn't live there anymore, but sometimes they go there to stay and there still are no problems with asthma kicking in.

 

So, lots of information there, but that's our story. :)

[Hilltopmom]

No, we won't use it regularly.

The upstairs is so big compared to our current home, that we won't need the basement to spread out in. (Just to store my big Rubbermaid tubs of off season stuff).

 

I've purged a lot of stuff & am down to just a few small bookshelves of games & books that would all fit in the new playroom.

 

I thought that since the floor is linoleum, the littles could ride ride on toys down there in the winter at least.

We wouldn't need to store clothes down there, or put a couch or bed down there.

(The upstairs is "perfect")

 

Moving the laundry to the first floor has crossed my mind too. There's a ulitity closet that could become a laundry room.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[gardenmom5]

I would start with bringing in someone who is experienced with waterproofing basements in your area - and find out how much that would cost.

 

there are diffferent techniques depending upon construction methods and water table/drainage patterns.  I grew up in a home with a daylight basement - the only water issue it had was the drainage towards the back door - which was fixed.  my own basement has never had moisture problems.   we've some friends who had to install a french drain (I have one).

[J-rap]

No, we won't use it regularly.

The upstairs is so big compared to our current home, that we won't need the basement to spread out in. (Just to store my big Rubbermaid tubs of off season stuff).

 

I've purged a lot of stuff & am down to just a few small bookshelves of games & books that would all fit in the new playroom.

 

I thought that since the floor is linoleum, the littles could ride ride on toys down there in the winter at least.

We wouldn't need to store clothes down there, or put a couch or bed down there.

(The upstairs is "perfect")

 

Moving the laundry to the first floor has crossed my mind too. There's a ulitity closet that could become a laundry room.

 

I think it would be okay based on this.  We ended up putting our laundry in the old kitchen pantry.  It's very handy!

[wendy not in HI]

I think it sounds like a great house.  Great location.  Family close, etc. I think you should go for it, and maybe negotiate the price based on the basement.  You can ask a foundation expert to be part of your inspection (before or after you make an offer)

 

We just moved from an area with a lot of moisture-in-basement issues.  Our basement had a mold problem and a musty smell.  We started running a dehumidifier (when we told the landlord about the problem, he happened to have one on hand that the previous renters used, hmmm, why not tell us about it and let us use it from the start?)  When the dehumidifier was running, we had no issues with musty smells or mold.  

 

When we moved, i was worried that there might be that musty smell stuck in any furniture/blankets/rugs that were in the basement, but that has not been a problem at all.

 

My sister lives in that same area. They recently did a large basement remodel and turned their dark creepy basement into a really fun place.  They Installed french drains as part of the remodel.  I think it's nice to have a space that could be improved eventually, but doesn't HAVE to be  done right now.  

[mom@shiloh]

As soon as my basement starts to smell musty, I know it's time to turn on dehumidifiers.  ALL of my basements have smelled musty without that.  If you're really serious about the house, ask them to run the dehumidifier for a few days to see if it takes care of the smell.  

[Acadie]

Mostly likely I wouldn't. I've had a couple friends buy houses that had basements with mold issues and various family members had increased health issues after moving in. Croup in babies/asthma/allergy issues especially. It's worse in houses with forced air heat/AC because whatever's in the basement is going to blow all over the house. 

 

If I really loved the house, I might research mold inspectors and have one do an inspection. It's essential that the inspector NOT be a contractor who does mold remediation--because they have a conflict of interest. If they tell you it can be remediated, they're getting more business. An independent inspector would give you better advice.

 

But mostly--I wouldn't. Especially with asthma/allergies in the family, which we have.

 

Amy

[Hilltopmom]

No forced air, we don't have that in older houses here.

 

I'm going to look into having someone come look at it for moisture issues, that's a good idea.

 

If it doesn't sell first, that is. At least it's a slow time of year.

Gotta sell my place too, of course.

[kbutton]

I wouldn't buy until I'd had an estimate done on corrective measures, including any changes to the sheet rock, the drainage system and heating/cooling system. It might even be good to have a restoration company come out and give options/estimates, since they deal with flooded and musty basements. 

 

I will mention that proper air flow can make a HUGE improvement in the quality of air in unfinished basements. We run our furnace fan continually for that reason. 

 

Yes. I would want to know what I'm getting into first. OTOH, as in the bolded, I know people who have an unfinished basement that has had some water a couple of times (big snowmelt at a time of year the ground was frozen solid), and they've not had issues otherwise, until they changed just one or two things to insulate. Even tiny changes can create a problem, and it could be that a tiny change could make the whole thing better.

[kbutton]

Oh, and some of it is the age of a house--sometimes something that always was fine changes, and it changes for all the houses around built the same way at the same time, like needing a roof replaced, mature trees taken down due to rot, etc.

 

As long as there is a fix you can live with and no ticking timebomb of mold or something awful, it's probably okay. Just be wary and cautious when you figure it out.

[MistyMountain]

I would want to know more about the problem and what is causing it and how expensive it would be to fix if it was mold or water getting in. Is it in a flood plain?

[skimomma]

It is common in the area I live in for houses to have water running through the basement.  Ours does (we have a natural spring that comes in one side of the basement and leaves through the other traveling through "canal" that are dug into the concrete) and it does smell musty when there is no air moving.  That only happens in the fall and spring when the windows might be closed but the heat is not yet running.  A dehumidifier would solve that but because it is only a handful of days, we just deal with it.  So, if this is indeed a common trait in the are in which you are looking, I would have someone take a look to make sure you are not dealing with toxic mold and to see what could be done about the musty smell before writing off the house.  You might find that all or many of the houses that hit the market all have the same issue.  In our case, we do not have anything down there. The ceilings are too low to actually use the space for anything other than storage anyway.  And obviously we do not store anything down there due to the water.  

[Hilltopmom]

My moms does not smell musty, but they never finished it because of the damp.

 

Pretty sure we'd at least need to rip out the walls down there.

 

Not in flood plain- next to lake but well above it (houses on the lake have sea walls)

 

Will ask for more info too, thanks

Edited November 13, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[KungFuPanda]

I have a buried basement with a sump pump. It's simply a more humid climate down there. It's not heated or cooled like the rest of the house. It doesn't NEED to be because it is submerged and tends to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It smelled musty until we got a dehumidifier. Within two days of getting it, it didn't smell like basement anymore. The trick is to make it drain into the sump pump. If you have to empty it yourself, you won't do it, the tank will fill, the unit will shut off, and the moisture will return to the air.

 

I just set my machine to the level of humidity I want down there and it cycles on and off to maintain that.