Source
r/homeowners•
dupie

High humidity in basement/sump pump?

I have a 1960 house with finished basement. No sump pump or weeping tile that I'm aware of. It appears they laid a 2" subfloor everywhere except the laundry room.

Last summer I got a dehumidifer and it struggled 24/7 to drop the humidity from 55% to 40%. I have poor grading which I will address this spring that I know is a concern. No foundation leaks I'm aware of. I'm in northern Canada so this is only a concern half the year.

Would a sump pump get rid of the humidity issues?

Posted May 23, 2020, 8:54 PM UTC

510
[deleted]•

Grade your foundation, make sure your gutters are emptying far away, dig a french drain if needed. Do this first.

You might have a weeping tile that empties into the sanitary sewer via gravity. Ask your towns engineering department.

Sump pump without weeping tile might not do much. Plus, if the pump ever fails you now have an open pit inside your basement. If the house has not had one for 60 years, some simple grading and a french drain will probably make an impact.

5
dupieOP•

Thank you for the explanation, I'll look into that first

3
ferrouswolf2•

What’s your outside humidity like?

3
dupieOP•

Dry prairie climate, average looks to be around 50% in summer. It seems moisture is seeping up from the cement and getting trapped in the basement

2
ferrouswolf2•

Take a sheet of impermeable plastic maybe 50x50cm and tape it to the bare concrete on all sides to form a tight seal. If you see condensation form in a few days, you have what you describe.

3
dupieOP•

Makes sense, I have a feeling it will be confirmed.

What is the general methods to solve that if that's the case? I'm not sure how to research this

2
ferrouswolf2•

This method is for deciding ether you need a moisture barrier before putting down flooring, so you might take it from that angle.

1
SafetyMan35•

You need a bigger dehumidifier (or multiple dehumidifiers)

A sump pump can help address standing water on floors or water weeping through the walls, but with 55%RH, you are on the high side of acceptable, so I doubt you have a problem that requires a sump pump.

3
jbrooko•

Is your dehumidifier the appropriate size for the square footage of your basement?

2
dupieOP•

Probably not, but the issue I'm trying to solve is how to lower the humidity overall.

My thoughts is - If I was to get a sump pump installed, even without weeping tile it would help but I'm not really familiar with how drainage works. I was hoping someone could let me know if i'm out to lunch or not.

1