A couple of years ago, my wife and I moved into a two-story built in 1976. It has a finished basement which has been humid (we run a humidifier 24 hours a day) and not too much of a problem.
However, a couple of weeks ago we discovered that one of the corners in the basement had gotten wet and mold was growing on the carpet and things in the corner. After an initial freak-out, I took the panelling of the wall to find a huge, soft moldy peice of drywall. I removed that (and styrofoam insullation) to find that the basement wall looks as if it has gotten wet a lot. (Incidentally, the 2x4s at the bottom of the drywall frame are very rotted too.) I also found stairstep cracks in the cinderblock wall.
So my question is, are the stairstep cracks a huge structural problem or just something that happens over time? I've had a basement waterproofing company guy out and he is trying to sell me a system.
Thanks in advance for any info! Paul
BTW, I've diverted my gutters out of the ground and away from the house and I'm assessing the grade of the surrounding soil. It seems to have helped with the humidity, but I don't want my house to fall over!
Post Reply
Watch this Post
