Hello!
At the end of 2021, I bought a property, a plastered villa of 120m2, with an equally large basement (120m2).
One half of the basement is "furnished" with a cast floor, plastered walls, and a plastered ceiling. In this part, there is a washing machine, some storerooms, a boiler room (district heating today), and a larger room we use for storage. It is furnished but not up to today's standards.
The other part of the basement is completely unfurnished. The floor is gravel (5-8cm per stone), and all the walls are made of lecablocks.
I live in Gävle, and in the last two years, there have been two major storms that have caused problems for almost everyone with basements in this city of 100k inhabitants. I wasn't living in the house during the first storm; all the neighbors (with similar houses) got a lot of water inside, while the previous owner said only a little water came in. Since there were drains, it quickly seeped away there.
To my knowledge, the property is undrained, and the house is situated on a slope, which means from the street it slopes down to the house, but it also continues to slope down to a brook. This is both really good and really bad at the same time, haha.
Now to my question:
There is a lot of plaster and paint peeling in the furnished part. In the unfurnished part, it is very cool, smells like a typical damp wine cellar, and there are many salt efflorescences—specifically in the corners. How important is it really for me to drain this basement? I have no intentions of using the basement for more than storage, a laundry room, and possibly a wine cellar.
There are black spots in the salt crystals in the corners of the unfurnished part. According to the Anticimex pest controller (who was there for another reason), he thought they were from the shells of ants that the cellar spiders had caused.
Is it even possible for the house to suffer significant problems due to moisture when there are no living materials in the section? How worried do I need to be about it traveling further up into the concrete floor and then further up into the frames and other structures made of wood?
The house is from 1960, consisting of concrete, plaster, and lecablocks.
At the end of 2021, I bought a property, a plastered villa of 120m2, with an equally large basement (120m2).
One half of the basement is "furnished" with a cast floor, plastered walls, and a plastered ceiling. In this part, there is a washing machine, some storerooms, a boiler room (district heating today), and a larger room we use for storage. It is furnished but not up to today's standards.
The other part of the basement is completely unfurnished. The floor is gravel (5-8cm per stone), and all the walls are made of lecablocks.
I live in Gävle, and in the last two years, there have been two major storms that have caused problems for almost everyone with basements in this city of 100k inhabitants. I wasn't living in the house during the first storm; all the neighbors (with similar houses) got a lot of water inside, while the previous owner said only a little water came in. Since there were drains, it quickly seeped away there.
To my knowledge, the property is undrained, and the house is situated on a slope, which means from the street it slopes down to the house, but it also continues to slope down to a brook. This is both really good and really bad at the same time, haha.
Now to my question:
There is a lot of plaster and paint peeling in the furnished part. In the unfurnished part, it is very cool, smells like a typical damp wine cellar, and there are many salt efflorescences—specifically in the corners. How important is it really for me to drain this basement? I have no intentions of using the basement for more than storage, a laundry room, and possibly a wine cellar.
There are black spots in the salt crystals in the corners of the unfurnished part. According to the Anticimex pest controller (who was there for another reason), he thought they were from the shells of ants that the cellar spiders had caused.
Is it even possible for the house to suffer significant problems due to moisture when there are no living materials in the section? How worried do I need to be about it traveling further up into the concrete floor and then further up into the frames and other structures made of wood?
The house is from 1960, consisting of concrete, plaster, and lecablocks.
Moisture travels in almost all concrete, plaster & leca materials themselves take no damage from the journey, but if the moisture is trapped or becomes extremely high, it can be troublesome. Usually, a seal strip is placed between the concrete and wood. Bought a regular moisture meter with 2 pins to... but only superficially on concrete & brick/wood. Going to drain my 1967 with brick facade starting to have moisture problems mostly due to gutter pipes blocked 2 out of 4 due to years of moss and possibly roots. But want to insulate a little, so mainly fixing it for that reason. Checked on a rainy day to make sure the water is transported away properly. I had Folksam visit after I bought the house, they measured and checked so no ongoing moisture in the bathroom floor. Also asked "can you check where it leaked in the wall," they said no, no moisture. Got other small tips... also put plastic under the freezer. There was a round moisture meter probe that measured a bit into the wall/floor, didn't even know those existed before.
Sounds like a fairly typical basement and you're right in deciding not to convert it into living space.
New drainage could be beneficial, but only if you can create a slope from it down to the brook, and if the brook is not expected to rise to the level of the drainage—in that case, it would do more harm than good.
Many cases of plaster and paint peeling (except due to moisture) are because the wall was painted with a non-breathable paint that doesn't allow moisture to pass through. Remove all loose plaster, replaster, and paint with a more suitable paint (silicate paint or similar).
New drainage could be beneficial, but only if you can create a slope from it down to the brook, and if the brook is not expected to rise to the level of the drainage—in that case, it would do more harm than good.
Many cases of plaster and paint peeling (except due to moisture) are because the wall was painted with a non-breathable paint that doesn't allow moisture to pass through. Remove all loose plaster, replaster, and paint with a more suitable paint (silicate paint or similar).
Exactly.B b8q said:
Do you think one should paint with silicate paint outside as well, i.e., on the foundation? It is to be renovated this summer, and it's the same type of paint there as on the inside, i.e., Europe's most compact acrylic adhesive 60's paint that removes all types of structure that exist behind it. Do you really want it to "breathe" from the outside in as well?
Thanks for the other answers.
Ah, that's what I thought.B b8q said:
Yes, I mean it's dry around the house, and it always dries fastest around the house during winter and spring, so it works in some way anyway. It slopes from the street down to the house but continues to slope further towards the back. Is it recommended to install a couple of exhaust fans in each part of the basement, or is it a waste of money?
In a typical basement from that time, I would only install regular vents (without fans). An exception if you have a laundry room or bathroom, in those basement areas you would ideally want some mechanical exhaust.P partysvensken said:
Would like to offer a consideration.. 
First and foremost, I should say.. the most important and essential thing is WHAT DO YOU want the basement for? Do you want it furnished for living space, or for storage... or nothing at all? Your needs dictate the actions, so to speak.
Regarding drainage, I can tell you a bit about ours.. we live in a house from the mid-1800s or so.. so we don't have concrete blocks, but rather large stones that the house rests on. Half of the basement has concrete floors/walls and half has bare stone walls and dirt floors.
Our basement is not directly used (only outside access) for living, but we have a water pump, boiler, and all drainage/VA-pipes running there. The concrete half is heated.
We live in a valley, which means a bit similar conditions to what you have... the water starts flowing further up the road/field and then flows past/under us.. and further down towards the "lowest point."
We have moisture in the concrete parts at the bottom close to the floor.. the dirt floor, on the other hand, seems bone-dry (airy? Dries faster or just not along the water path..;
What I would generally recommend (if we just assume you’re not going to do anything special with the basement, just reduce possible “water pressure”) is to redirect the water that comes “from above”.. before it reaches the house..
I don't really know what it looks like at your place, but at ours you can see (with a lot of rain and possibly snowmelt, etc.) when the water runs down towards the house in the slope.. and if it rains "a heck of a lot," the courtyard/parking gets puddles.. this is the water you should redirect as much as possible!
Our puddles now.. are due to our “diversion ditch” getting a bit overgrown.. so the water doesn't run off as quickly there.. elsewhere it works better! We rarely have puddles and they usually disappear in about an hour
Previous owners have buried some wells where we can redirect the water to.. and what reaches the house slides off on each side around the house..
It's very difficult to do anything about the one that runs under the house.. when you live in slopes where a lot of water moves through the ground :/
So if you have a spot where you see a lot of water flowing.. heading down towards your house when it rains/melts.. try to come up with a way to start redirecting that extra water “over there” already!
Regardless if you then want to re-drain the house.
First and foremost, I should say.. the most important and essential thing is WHAT DO YOU want the basement for? Do you want it furnished for living space, or for storage... or nothing at all? Your needs dictate the actions, so to speak.
Regarding drainage, I can tell you a bit about ours.. we live in a house from the mid-1800s or so.. so we don't have concrete blocks, but rather large stones that the house rests on. Half of the basement has concrete floors/walls and half has bare stone walls and dirt floors.
Our basement is not directly used (only outside access) for living, but we have a water pump, boiler, and all drainage/VA-pipes running there. The concrete half is heated.
We live in a valley, which means a bit similar conditions to what you have... the water starts flowing further up the road/field and then flows past/under us.. and further down towards the "lowest point."
We have moisture in the concrete parts at the bottom close to the floor.. the dirt floor, on the other hand, seems bone-dry
(airy? Dries faster or just not along the water path..;What I would generally recommend (if we just assume you’re not going to do anything special with the basement, just reduce possible “water pressure”) is to redirect the water that comes “from above”.. before it reaches the house..
I don't really know what it looks like at your place, but at ours you can see (with a lot of rain and possibly snowmelt, etc.) when the water runs down towards the house in the slope.. and if it rains "a heck of a lot," the courtyard/parking gets puddles.. this is the water you should redirect as much as possible!
Our puddles now.. are due to our “diversion ditch” getting a bit overgrown.. so the water doesn't run off as quickly there.. elsewhere it works better! We rarely have puddles and they usually disappear in about an hour
Previous owners have buried some wells where we can redirect the water to.. and what reaches the house slides off on each side around the house..
It's very difficult to do anything about the one that runs under the house.. when you live in slopes where a lot of water moves through the ground :/
So if you have a spot where you see a lot of water flowing.. heading down towards your house when it rains/melts.. try to come up with a way to start redirecting that extra water “over there” already!
Regardless if you then want to re-drain the house.
Sounds like our houses are identical when it comes to moisture and all that. I'll try to respond to everything you wrote above.Snigla said:
Would like to give a thinker..
First and foremost I should say.. the most important and essential thing.. is WHAT YOU want the basement for? Do you want it furnished for living space, or for storage.. or nothing at all? Your needs determine the actions, so to speak.
Regarding the drainage issue, I can tell a little about ours.. we live in a house from somewhere in the mid-1800s.. so we don't have concrete blocks, but rather large stones that the house rests on. Half of the basement has cast floor/walls and the other half has exposed stone walls and dirt floor.
Our basement isn't really used (only entrance from outside) for living, but we have a water pump, furnace, and all sewage/water pipes drawn there. The cast half is heated.
We live in a valley, similar conditions as you have… the water starts running further up the road/field and then runs past/under us.. and continues down towards the "lowest point."
We have moisture in the cast parts at the bottom towards the floor.. the dirt floor, however, seems bone dry
What I would generally recommend (if we just assume you are not going to do anything special with the basement, just reduce any "water pressure") is to divert the water coming from "above" before it reaches the house..
Don't really know how it looks by you, but for us, you can see (with a lot of rain and possibly snowmelt etc.) when the water runs down towards the house on the slope.. and if it rains "a ton" then the courtyard/parking gets puddles.. this is the water you should divert as much as possible!
Our puddles now.. are because our "diversion ditch" has overgrown a bit.. so the water doesn't flow away as quickly right there.. in other places, it works better! We rarely have puddles and they usually disappear within an hour
Previous owners have dug some wells where we can divert the water.. and what reaches the house slides out to either side around the house..
It's very difficult to do anything about the water running under the house.. when you live in slopes where a lot of water moves in the ground :/
So if you have a spot where you see a lot of water running.. heading down toward the house when it rains/melts.. try to figure out if you can start diverting that extra water already "over there"!
Regardless of whether or not you want to redo the house drainage.
1. For the coming 10 years, it will just be a basement. One half will be a laundry room, some storage, furnace room, etc. The other part, which is completely unfinished, will remain unfinished.
2. There are quite a few puddles, especially this time of year. Some small puddles on the garage driveway, a larger puddle right by the porch, some on the lawn (5 meters away from the house though...) but I'm considering tearing up the whole yard in the future as the entire backyard will be cleared of old dead trees, stumps, etc. The house was built in 1960 and I'm the second owner. The person who lived here before probably didn't do much between the ages of 80 and 100 when she died. haha
3. There are wells in every corner, a well in the basement staircase, and a well on the driveway that's completely filled with dirt, so it hardly works.
I think the tricky part is knowing how to try and slope the land. It's a large yard and a small house, so there's space to slope the water away if you want. Then in the summer, you can see there are damp areas, especially by the hedge on the far left of the yard, where it's never possible to mow the grass - regardless of the time of day since it's always damp.
Do you have any suggestions on how to practically "slope" the land? It's exactly the same as you describe your house, but I have a stream a bit further into the backyard.
Alright. I have a lot of fresh air vents there, but there's a lack of exhaust in the boiler room, laundry room, and drying room (these are in an open plan with small room dividers). I'm planning to redo the electrical work in the basement soon, so maybe I should install a fan there?B b8q said:
It depends on what kind of boiler it is. If it's a combustion boiler (oil, wood, pellets), it needs fresh air intake, not an exhaust fan in the same room. Plus, such a boiler keeps the room, air, and chimney warm and dry.P partysvensken said:
However, if it's an electric boiler of some kind, that's a different story.
Regarding exhaust air, in our basement, there are several old windows with some small broken panes (there are also holes in a door between the cast/warm basement and the cold basement (where more fresh air circulates).
(We have geothermal heating, no wood-burning furnace)
Anyway, the previous owner had installed a Pax fan on a timer. It starts two to three times a day and circulates/extracts the air (for an hour or a few each time it starts), which seems to have worked well down there.
(We have geothermal heating, no wood-burning furnace)
Anyway, the previous owner had installed a Pax fan on a timer. It starts two to three times a day and circulates/extracts the air (for an hour or a few each time it starts), which seems to have worked well down there.
It is a former oil boiler, but now district heating is installed.B b8q said: