My mother-in-law called the other day in a panic.
She was upset because she had ventured into the basement and found that the walls and floor were all very damp.
Now, normally, she never goes down there because it isn’t what you would call a finished basement. The house is very old and the only thing down there is the furnace, hot water tank, and a few old tools. My husband goes over several times a year to check things out and change the filter in the furnace, but, that is really the only time anyone is down there. Anyway, I wasn’t sure why she decided to go down there but told her that I would send her son over when her got home from work. He came home from her house and said that, due to the really wet Spring we have had the ground was really saturated. This was causing walls and the floor in the old basement to seep moisture. He said that he was going to head to the HVAC dealer in town to see about purchasing a high quality dehumidifier for the space. He said that the ones that were sold at the local hardware store were not powerful enough to remove the amount moisture that was in the space. I was worried that we would have to go over constantly to empty a reservoir but my husband said he could direct feed the drain tube into the sump pit and we would never have to do anything with it. Once he had it hooked up the basement was high and dry in no time. The HVAC dealer recommended that we check on the unit once a month and shut it down during the drier season to extend the life of the unit. At least it was a simple fix.