wet basement

[Chad Weeden]

I recently purchased (about 3 months now) a Ryan Home and since the day I moved in the about 2/3 of the basement walls have been damp to wet. On occasison it gets so bad that water drips from the plastic coated insulation to the floor and pooling occcurs. The builder told me that “black block” was common and nothing to worry about.

However I am now starting to notice what appears to be mold growing on the walls and lime coming from inbetween the blocks. This is really starting to concern me.

Is black block a normal occurance and should I just “deal” with it or is the building giving me a line of crap?

[Grasshopper]

Black block must be common in a Ryan home?? “Avoiding water” starts with sealing the outside of the block. Next is water down spouts and earth grading to get the water away from the home. Many homes have drains around the footings tied to sumps. On the inside of the basement, maintain 50% RH to evaporate any moisture that diffuses through the wall. A vapor retarder inside of insulation a cool basement traps the moisture and prevents condensation. Might try slashing the plastic on a couple of the stud cavities. Your vapor retarder should be on the outside of the block. You will need a dehumidifier unless you are in very dry climate.

[Daniel E. Fall]

Mold is not common on walls.

It sounds like the basement is unfinished. Paint the concrete with UGL Drylock. This may require removal of the insulation. If the builder built well, the walls should be 1/2″ off the concrete. This is to avoid allowing untreated studs to be subject to that moisture.

I did my own new house and am experiencing black block as well. Here are the steps I have taken/will take.

If you have no sump, you’ll need to take every precaution on the outside of the home to make sure the grade is away and not toward the house. This may include creating plastic lined swails, etc. This should be your first effort.

Secondly, install gutters over all areas where prevalent black block is occuring and route the water well away from the structure.

Third. Remove any insulation in the walls and allow the walls to dry either by season, or conditioning.

Once the walls have dried, apply UGL. You can see this product demonstrated in some places, but bsically, the demo has running water in the block and half has UGL and the other half doesn’t. The UGL side is completely dry.

Finally, make sure the RH is not too high in the dwelling, this might require installation of air conditioning a/o a dehumidifier, although the AC would be my choice any day.

You can also install a high efficiency furnace, these tend to pull moisture from the air and actually require drains.

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