Advice for Ventilating and Drying Cellar

Our cellar is quite musty and humid much of the time. it’s ventilated by open windows under the two closed and locked hatches in front and back (adequate for the boiler but it’s not much). We have three questions. 1. How do we get more fresh air into the cellar, such as via a purpose built vent or two, where would they go, what would such vents be, who would do this work? 2. What is the most simple dehumidifier option and what is involved? (We have no drain in the cellar floor, though we could potentially tap into the existing sewer line that runs above the cellar floor.) 3. We have what seems to be a new and increasing leak coming from the front of the house into the cellar from the floor, seemingly when it rains. I am slightly mystified because our front yard is paved (correctly) although we did put in a parch of garden close to the sidewalk about two years ago. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you.

cate

in General Discussion 3 years and 11 months ago

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cate | 3 years and 11 months ago

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Thank you so much all, this is very helpful. I am starting to think the leak may be the new garden. Steve, the options you describe sound pretty good — running every other week doesn’t sound so bad (or so pricey with the electrical bill). Please excuse my ignorance, but what is an old fashioned dehumidifier? (We have a tendency to buy equipment and then not use it because we can’t figure out how.)

Guest User | 3 years and 11 months ago

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Vents are usually done by hvac people. They can go out the front or the back of the building. With regards to drains, you can install a sump and pump that water through a pipe that connects to your sewer pipe. The leak in the front and any moisture must be handled by someone who knows that they are doing; a waterproofing expert of some kind. I would not trust anyone with this. Always worth talking to a few people then deciding on how you want to proceed.

Brooklyn Waterproofing Expert (929) 470-7645
VIP Waterproofing Contractors (917) 791-4216

andriywww1990 | 3 years and 11 months ago

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and cate, once you dehumidify that space, you may not feel the need for the fan. once the air is dry, the mustiness will fall out of it – the dry air will not support it or hold it (this is my imagination working, all i know is when you dry the air it no longer smells musty).

but you have the boiler. that pulls something in. so maybe just the dehumidifier? i would try just that first and see where that gets you. i am not saying you will be setting up a ping pong table and having tournaments down there but you also wont feel like the joists will rot out from under you.

andriywww1990 | 3 years and 11 months ago

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so cate, if you have been living like this for a long time, anything might be an improvement. what i mean by that is, if you buy an old fashioned dehumidifier and run the hell out of it and empty it by hand into a bucket for say a week (you might empty it twice a day during that period) and then run it for 24 hours say every other week, you might see a big improvement. i have been down this road many times and once you dry it, you maintain.

i have seen this: a customer dug a hole in the floor and set a bucket in the ground with a very small sump pump in it. the dehumidifier sat over the bucket and drained into it and the pump pumped the water out through a small hose. this will not be so much water that you have to tap into the sewer. at first it might be a lot, but not all the time.

the fan part, i am not sure. you will need a vent someplace. are there any unused but clear flues down there you can put a fan in, even a 6″ fan. they make 6″ in line fans for ducts and we use one here. it might not move enough air that you want to live down there but m ight move enough that if you run it once a week for a day, that along with the dehumidifier (you could even set these on a time clock), it will be comfortable to go down there.