Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [moisture]

275 questions
30
votes
9 answers

What humidity should I set my dehumidifier to?

I just bought a 50 pint dehumidifier for my basement. What humidity level should I aim for? This time of year the outside humidity is very high (over 80%) and we do not have central air. Right now it is set to 55% and seems to be running…
auujay
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9 answers

I have a basement floor with lots of moisture, can I paint or seal it to make it waterproof?

My basement has a slight dampness issue, where if I leave things on the floor they will get wet. There are no leaks and no standing water, the moisture seems to be wicking up through the concrete. I conducted a simple test to make sure moisture in…
Tester101
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16
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4 answers

Moisture leaking out of chip in floor tile

I dropped something heavy and mildly pointed onto the bathroom floor. The Bathroom is tiled with ~30cm square black "slate like" tiles, but where I dropped this thing, the surface has been badly (2-3 cm radius, ?1-2mm deep?) chipped, and underneath…
Brondahl
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13
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5 answers

Will it cause problems to shower without the exhaust fan and only turn it on afterwards?

If the exhaust fan was not turned on until after the shower is complete (say, 30 min. after the water is first turned on), is that enough to cause mold/mildew/paint issues? The mirror is foggy during these 30 minutes. Or is 30 minutes of humidity…
kostmo
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12
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1 answer

How to make a house that tolerates condensation

Where I live, it's humid outside all fall, winter, and spring, and hovers around 45 deg F. Combined with indoor cooking, showering, etc., we always get a lot condensation on our windows. Rot & mildew love it here. What can we do in the design &…
Jay Bazuzi
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2 answers

What are our options for carpeting the basement of a split-level house?

The basement level of our house (1/2 below grade) is currently just vinyl tile on concrete slab. It's cold during the winter, so we would like to carpet it. We do not get water penetration through the floor, but during the humid days of summer,…
DCNYAM
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10
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2 answers

How can I remove a moisture mark from a wooden table?

I have a white mark on my wooden dining table that was caused by a potted plant sitting there for too long without a saucer. Attempts to clean it off have been futile because it seems not to be a mark on the surface, but a mark in the wood probably…
wim
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votes
2 answers

What are these vents in the foundation mortar for?

Throughout the interior side of my 1925 brick foundation are little metal vents embedded in the mortar at irregular intervals. Neither our home inspector nor our real estate agent knew exactly what they were for. The vents are about the size of a…
Joe Shaw
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7
votes
3 answers

Solutions for a moist basement?

I live close to the water and there is a high water table around my house. Therefore a lot of water vapor passes through the basement walls. I would like to be able to store stuff in my basement and ideally finish it and not have to worry about…
James Hackett
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6
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2 answers

Are there any electro-osmosis damp proofing systems that work?

I have a problem with rising damp in an old wall and am wondering if electro-osmosis damp proofing systems actually work to remedy this as they claim. The type of system I'm talking about consists of a wall-mounted electromagnetic field generator…
w128
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6
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2 answers

Is it OK to block off an unused root cellar to mitigate moisture problems?

I have a root/cold cellar underneath my front porch. The walls appear to be poured concrete as I can't see any bricks or cinder blocks. The room sweats like crazy so there is an obvious moisture problem. The door to the room is just made of what…
user2195
6
votes
3 answers

What type of primer should be used on moisture resistant drywall?

What type of primer should I use my basement bathroom walls? New moisture resistant drywall has been installed, taped and sanded, and is now ready to be primed.
lilmac
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What type of subflooring should I use for a basement?

My basement has wall-to-wall carpet in the two bedrooms and living area. The carpet was probably from the 70's when the house was built and we decided to remove it. After removing the carpet from both of the bedrooms, we noticed some water spots…
SwDevMan81
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6
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2 answers

How do I drywall over a partial cement wall?

I have 9' walls and the bottom foot or so is cement on one wall. What's the best method to drywall over this wall so no moisture seeps in? As you can see, there was moisture seeping in down at the bottom below the window. I planned on using a…
joshmax
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5
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1 answer

How do I mitigate moisture problems when putting up drywall over stucco with torn tar paper?

I'd like to finish my 56-year old garage with drywall but I have concerns about moisture. The wall construction looks like stucco over tar paper with metal wire support, then the frame. My main concern is that when it has rained in the past, the…
Sam
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