Hello,
we have literally torn out the entire basement, the walls are now plastered, and the floors are poured. The house is from the 70s but actually (!) there is 50 mm of foam embedded in the concrete in the base plate. It’s too little but should still be an advantage.
We also tore out the entire ceiling, which was initially made of paneling and underneath that some sort of ceiling gypsum. Now the sheathing in the floor truss is exposed and it looks generally very good. My question is, should I need to replace all the sheathing as well? and if so, also the insulation, or should it be "healthy" now.
Buggaren
we have literally torn out the entire basement, the walls are now plastered, and the floors are poured. The house is from the 70s but actually (!) there is 50 mm of foam embedded in the concrete in the base plate. It’s too little but should still be an advantage.
We also tore out the entire ceiling, which was initially made of paneling and underneath that some sort of ceiling gypsum. Now the sheathing in the floor truss is exposed and it looks generally very good. My question is, should I need to replace all the sheathing as well? and if so, also the insulation, or should it be "healthy" now.
Buggaren
If the raw wooden boards under the roof look okay, there is no reason to replace them. If they don't look okay, on the other hand, you have much bigger problems because then the floor joists are likely damaged as well.
The only thing that can make your raw wooden boards unhealthy is water. Do you have any suspicion that water has entered, and if so, from where?
The only thing that can make your raw wooden boards unhealthy is water. Do you have any suspicion that water has entered, and if so, from where?
Thanks for the response, yes, the råspont generally looks very "healthy". But could it possibly be that the råspont is damp? Water hasn't entered in "liquid" form, I'm pretty sure of that. But I'm thinking the råspont might have absorbed moisture from the air? I think it should be possible to dry it out if that's the case? The floor beams feel, as mentioned, like a big project... maybe better to build new?
If the roof sheathing looks healthy and doesn't crumble when you stick a knife into it, then there's nothing wrong with it. If water has flowed, there are usually streaks left after this, even after it has completely dried.
If it had been extremely humid in the basement and the roof sheathing wet as a result, you would almost certainly see the consequence of this - mold.
If you're unsure about the construction, it might be best to either ask an expert to inspect the house and suggest measures (don't use the construction company), or you might be able to measure the moisture in the wood yourself. Now you're almost concluding that you should tear down the house just because some roof sheathing might be damp. That seems a bit hasty.
It's impossible to diagnose remotely in this way, but the most likely scenario is that the roof sheathing is in completely normal condition. If you have no mold on the wood, no signs of water, no strange smell (apart from it smelling like a "basement"), then it's probably a good idea to sleep well at night and not think more about the underlayment.
If it had been extremely humid in the basement and the roof sheathing wet as a result, you would almost certainly see the consequence of this - mold.
If you're unsure about the construction, it might be best to either ask an expert to inspect the house and suggest measures (don't use the construction company), or you might be able to measure the moisture in the wood yourself. Now you're almost concluding that you should tear down the house just because some roof sheathing might be damp. That seems a bit hasty.
It's impossible to diagnose remotely in this way, but the most likely scenario is that the roof sheathing is in completely normal condition. If you have no mold on the wood, no signs of water, no strange smell (apart from it smelling like a "basement"), then it's probably a good idea to sleep well at night and not think more about the underlayment.
Thank you very much for the response. I will bring in Anticimex since I have a so-called buyer's responsibility insurance with them. So then the moisture will be measured. I have a single spot in the ceiling of the entire basement where the raw wood is affected by some sort of fungus, otherwise, it is completely fine, actually looks very healthy. The damage is next to an exterior wall and likely comes from the old window's windowsill on the floor "above" (ground floor) having tilted inward towards the wood instead of outward, and eventually, moisture probably seeped into the wall under the window and from there down into the joist space. The craftsman who replaced the window had to replace some wood in the construction under the window because it was damaged. Then there's probably the case that there might be a certain "basement smell" no matter how much organic material one clears out from the basement, and my wife's nose is very sensitive...maybe it's the insulation in the joist space that smells? I've been considering whether it might be a good idea to rent an ozone generator and run a treatment with it, does anyone have experience with that?
Buggaren
Buggaren