You might be making use of your basement for utility purposes such as your air-conditioning systems, car parking area, fuse boxes or electrical distribution systems. This means that your basement is not completely utilized like your other rooms in the house. When you enter your basement for these purposes, you may have noticed an unpleasant smell in spite of taking good care of your basement. Basement odors are quite common with regard to the maintenance of basements. Let us look at some of the important factors that lie behind the musty odor that bothers you most of the time.

Causes of Basement Odors

Dampness

You must be wondering how a closed area like a basement would invite chances for dampness. When the level of humidity is high, the amount of moisture increases in the atmosphere. The condensation of moist, warm air on cold interior wall and floor surfaces is more than enough to create dampness in your basement. Wet walls, foggy windows and tiny droplets on cold surfaces are good signs of high levels of humidity. When air is able to hold water vapor at a particular temperature, the relative humidity is 100%. If it goes beyond, that is when condensation takes place, causing dampness.

Mold and Mildew

The environment in a damp basement is suitable for the growth of mold and mildew. Molds are a type of fungi and ubiquitous in nature and are therefore found both indoors and outdoors. Climatic conditions such as warm, damp and humid weather are favorable to the growth of these organisms. Mildew has the ability to break down cellulose material and release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that result in the musty odor in basements. Mold growth is usually very common in basements and can be seen as black spots on wood furniture, carpets, drywalls, organic ceiling tiles, paper, cloth, cardboard and anything that is made up of organic material, causing rotting and damage. The presence of mold and mildew in the basement gives a musty odor which leads to various health-related issues. The mold spores that are formed on damp surfaces affect the immune system when they enter the respiratory tract and cause symptoms like breathing problems, congestion, headache, asthma and allergies.

Stagnant Air

A basement or a crawl space is usually a closed area and is not frequently used as compared to the other rooms in the house. This reduces the amount of air entering into the basement. A musty odor in the basement develops due to lack of circulation of air. This can be found out by opening the windows in your basement and switching on the exhaust fans on one fine day to allow air circulation. If the bad odor in your basement does not exist, then you have the answer to your problem!

High Humidity

Your basement may have the perfect air circulation and may be clear of any mold and mildew growth, but do you still experience bad odor? Well, humidity could be the reason and does play a vital role in a smelly basement which occurs due to climatic conditions. High levels of humidity in the basement (above 50%) create breeding grounds for the growth of mold and mildew. Hence, before the construction of your basement, it is important to look into the aspects of moisture, humidity and air circulation.

Water penetration

The chances of water penetration in the basement are always high, since it is located below the ground where water gets accumulated. There are basically two ways in which water can enter into the basement, through the foundation walls and the basement floor. When water gets soaked in the soil, there is always pressure of the heavy water to push through the foundation walls. If there are any cracks or joints on the walls, then water is sure to pass through depending on the quantity and pressure of water against the walls. Stains on the concrete, paneling of a finished basement and efflorescence are common indicators of water penetration. Corners of basements are also popular for water penetration caused by the discharge of rain water from the rain down spout in this area.

For more on basement related solutions, click on to www.keystonebasementsystems.com.

“Keystone Basement Systems, Inc. is a foundation repair company. KBS is not, however, an engineering firm and should not be considered as such.”

References

1. http://www.forensicconstructionexpert.com/basement_air.html
2. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4743130_musty-basement-odor-occur.html
3. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/remedies-taking-out-smell-mold-mildew.html
4. http://www.basementsystems.com/mold.html
5. http://www.gwarreninc.com/water-damage.html#basements1-water

Tags: Advice, Article, Basic information, Description, Informative, Learning, Overview

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 2:25 am and is filed under Advice, Basic Information, Certified Professionals, Remedial measures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.