Carpet in Basement - Moisture?


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Old 11-13-14, 06:13 AM
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Carpet in Basement - Moisture?

I'm replacing the carpet in our basement. We just moved into the house a few months ago and the carpeting had a weird smell to it. The previous owners had a dog and I'm pretty sure it did its business in the basement often. When I removed the old carpeting, some off the wooden tack strips were rotted out.

To reduce any potential moisture issues, I cleaned the slab and sprayed a concrete sealant on it. The sealant is supposed to seal the concrete up to 6 inches. I know we also have high humidity in the basement, so I have a dehumidifier running frequently.

The last couple of weeks I was working on refinishing the stairs (sanding, staining, etc) and didn't turn on the dehumidifier as often as we usually do. I had plastic bags laying on parts of the slab to prevent the stain from dripping everywhere. When I removed the bags, the area beneath them on the slab was darker in color from moisture build-up. No visible drops, just darker in color. This dried off and disappeared within 20 minutes of removing the bags.

Unfortunately, our only option is carpet since the basement floor is not completely level. Is there any type of carpeting or padding I can use to help with the potential moisture issues? I was thinking of some really short carpet style and a rubber pad. I plan on running the dehumidifier often in order to keep the humidity low. I just don't want moisture building up under the carpet and not escaping even with the help of the dehumidifier. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you in advance.
 
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Old 11-13-14, 07:27 AM
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Difficult!! Hi pane, as you have learned, those sealing products will never stop all of the moisture. As you stated, 20 minutes after you picked up the plastic the dark area returned to normal, the moisture evaporated. As long as you do not block that process of evaporating, like using a rubber backed carpet or other vapor barrier, you will have fewer problems. To say the problem would be solved would not be correct as the moisture will always be diffusing up through the floor and walls.

The rotted tack strip, probably not complicated by a vapor barrier, is an example of what you can expect for the long term. Basements will always need moisture management unless EXTREME measures were taken during construction. Once built as most are, there will always be a potential for moisture and mold.

If the basement is heated a regular dehumidifier will work, size to be determined. But if it is basically cool/cold down there you will need a dehumidifier rated for those temperatures.

The smell you detected was probably not all the dogs fault, although gas leaks have long been blamed on the dog.

Bud
 
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Old 11-13-14, 07:34 AM
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Thanks Bud. So you suggest using less of the vapor barrier padding under the carpet? I guess the downside to that is if we have a spill, it would be more likely to go under the entire carpet and spread. Although since we only have slab underneath, I guess having spills go through onto the slab isnt' as bad as having constant moisture trapped under the carpet.
 
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Old 11-13-14, 07:53 AM
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The science involved says the moisture below will always move towards dryer areas. If a vapor barrier is used, the area under the VB will become equally as wet as the soil below the slab. The carper should also be rated for use in a basement, something that doesn't act as mold food.

Here is a link, but many of the solutions presented are beyond my budget, but it does help to understand what is going on.
BSI-003: Concrete Floor Problems — Building Science Information

Bud
 
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Old 11-13-14, 08:02 AM
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Thanks, appreciate the help. I'm heading to the carpet showroom in my area this weekend. Will see what they have to offer.
 
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Old 11-22-14, 04:17 AM
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Oh, yeah, I had the same problem with my little carpet and this post is really helpful for me Thanks
 
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Old 11-22-14, 02:07 PM
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Need to be figuring out why there's so much moisture under the slab.
Is there a sump pump, drain tiles.
Is the outside grade sloped away from the house?
Working gutters?
No mulch or flower beds up against the foundation holding in moisture?
There is just no way to seal a slab from the top side.
No way would I be installing any form of carpet unless there was something like Dri-Core under it.
 
 

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