Negative Effects of the Air in your Damp or Wet Basement

Negative Effects of the Air in your Damp or Wet Basement

As warm air rises in a home it leaks out of the upper levels. New air must enter to replace the air that escaped. In fact, in an average home about half of the air in the home escapes each hour out of the upper levels. This creates suction at the lower levels of the home to draw in replacement air. In older, leaky homes the air exchange rate can be as high as a full air exchanger per hour.

What this “stack effect” does is create airflow in your home from bottom to top. So air from the basement is drawn upwards into the first floor, and then to the second floor. Of course it dilutes with other air in your home, but building scientists say that up to 50 percent of the air you breathe on the first floor is air that came from the basement. If you have hot air heating with ductwork, the air mixes even more thoroughly throughout the house.

Therefore, whatever is in your basement air is in your house and affecting you, whether you spend much time in the basement or not. If there is high humidity downstairs, there is higher humidity upstairs than there would be otherwise. If there is mold in the basement, there are mold spores upstairs. If there are damp odors downstairs – you get the idea

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Negative Effects of a Wet or Damp Basement

Since air flows upward into the upper levels of your home from the basement, it brings the humidity from the basement with it. The effects on your home can include:

• Dust mites (the number one indoor allergen)
• Sticking (swollen) doors and windows
• Smelly damp carpets
• Buckling hardwood floors
• Condensation/rotting/mold in your attic (as humid air escapes into your attic it can condense against the cold ceiling or roof)
• Frost or condensation and mold on the inside of windows in cool weather
• Increased cooling bills (damp air takes more energy to cool)
• Increased heating bills (damp air takes more energy to heat)
• Mold upstairs
• Decreased life of roof sheathing and shingles
• Aggravated asthma and allergies