I need a dehumidifier

debodun said:
sump - a pit or hollow in which liquid collects, especially one in the floor of a mine or basement.

It's supposed to channel water away from the basement.
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A sump pump is an important part of a house.
It collects water from around your weeping tile. If power goes off for an extended amount of time, you could possibly get a flood in your basement. All that water that you had to throw out, shouldnā€™t have been there and wouldnā€™t have been there if the sump pump had been working.
 

PeppermintPatty said:
The books are the least of her problems.
Her health isnā€™t going to be good with all that mould and mildew in the basement.
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That reply about moving the books wasn't supposed to be taken literally.

I know her health is primary.
Getting a dehumidifier delivered to her basement & a plumber to come in to set it up & take care of that missing sump pump would be the best.

The home she inherited deteriorated due to not keeping up with repairs. It seems like this one is going the same route.
 
We have a cement basement below ground level. It leaks. We have to pump it our occasionally. We bought a dehumidifier, medium sized. It needed to be emptied when 3 gallons of water was collected. We needed it because we were growing vegetables hydroponically.
 

PeppermintPatty said:
A sump pump is an important part of a house.
It collects water from around your weeping tile. If power goes off for an extended amount of time, you could possibly get a flood in your basement. All that water that you had to throw out, shouldnā€™t have been there and wouldnā€™t have been there if the sump pump had been working.
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But after I manually emptied it, there was never much more water in it. I always wondered where all that water that was in it initially came from. I'm surprised the home inspector didn't report the sump problem.
 
When I was a child, then again in my 40ā€™s, we lived in an old house with mold and mildew. I had severe asthma both times. When our old home was destroyed by a flood we built a new home 12ft up. I never ever had asthma after that.

I would say just be careful. I would use gloves and a good mask going down to the basement. Maybe put the mildewed books in plastic garbage bags and just throw away, if you can or have someone help you.

Mold and mildew can affect your mental state and cause respiratory issues.
Hope all goes well for you.
 
debodun said:
But after I manually emptied it, there was never much more water in it. I always wondered where all that water that was in it initially came from. I'm surprised the home inspector didn't report the sump problem.
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The home inspector should have caught that be clearly didnā€™t. Unfortunately once the house paperwork goes through, they arenā€™t liable.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
The home inspector should have caught that be clearly didnā€™t. Unfortunately once the house paperwork goes through, they arenā€™t liable.
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He was mostly concerned with structural integrity. As long as there were no cracks in the foundation and the roof had shingles on it. He was satisfied. This was an inspector that the realtor recommended.
 
debodun said:
He was mostly concerned with structural integrity. As long as there were no cracks in the foundation and the roof had shingles on it. He was satisfied. This was an inspector that the realtor recommended.
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He probably did a good job. This isnā€™t a big deal. Maybe you could ask him if he could recommend a contractor. A good contractor could get a decent dehumidifier and fix that sump pump problem. Mould and mildew can be real health issues. Read Donā€™s post again.
debodun said:
I am kind of sentimental about those encyclopedias. My parents bought them for me to help with schoolwork in 1960 at a great financial sacrifice. Nowadays, you can't give encyclopedia sets away, Even the SA and Goodwill won't take them.
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When is the last time you used them?
If your parents were looking at what youā€™re doing, Iā€™m sure theyā€™d be in agreement with ā€˜throwing them out.ā€™ You bought a new house to escape this type of problem. You are a smart woman. Use your common sense. Donā€™t make decisions based on emotions.
 
debodun said:
I am kind of sentimental about those encyclopedias. My parents bought them for me to help with schoolwork in 1960 at a great financial sacrifice.
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You had great parents! Do you remember using them to get information to write papers for school?

I think a whole set of mildewing encyclopedias is too much to retain for sentimental reasons. Could you just cut out some pages and make a few scrapbook pages with parts of the pages and a picture of the encyclopedia set (not the mildew picture) and a picture of you and your parents in the 60s.

Then you could throw out the mildewed set and still have enough for sentimental musings.
 
HoneyNut said:
You had great parents! Do you remember using them to get information to write papers for school?

I think a whole set of mildewing encyclopedias is too much to retain for sentimental reasons. Could you just cut out some pages and make a few scrapbook pages with parts of the pages and a picture of the encyclopedia set (not the mildew picture) and a picture of you and your parents in the 60s.

Then you could throw out the mildewed set and still have enough for sentimental musings.
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I agree, find another way to preserve the memory and get rid of them.

Do you have a photo of the big day when you received them, a picture of you studying, a picture of them proudly displayed in your parents home?
 
The pictures you posted in Post #10 show lamps. etc., in the "finished" area of your basement....so there are obviously electrical outlets in that area. You could install a proper sized dehumidifier in that area, and leave the laundry room doors open, to move drier air into the laundry room.
There may well be a junction box in your laundry room that would easily allow an electrician to install a 20 amp circuit breaker and a couple of 110V outlets in the laundry room area.

Getting your sump pump replaced, and controlling the humidity in your basement should be a priority. Failure to correct these situations will only lead to more problems in the future....both for your house, and even your health. A few hundred dollars spent in the near future could well save you thousands in the future if mold/mildew is ignored.
 
Deb,

Iā€™m not sure a dehumidifier would make much of a difference.

All of that paper, cardboard, and fabric bric a brac create a giant sponge.

I would encourage you to empty the basement of all but a very few essential items before spending any additional money.

Good luck!
 
It happened before my time, but my condo association had to pay a lot of money to fix mold in the basement storage, and since then they prohibit all of these to avoid future mold issues: paper, cardboard, food, wood, cloth, leather, and upholstery.

So I'd guess if you want to avoid mold you could look at buying a bunch of plastic containers to replace your cardboard boxes. They would probably stack nicely (which would free up space), or if you liked it better, you could store the plastic containers on either plastic or metal shelving units.

Maybe metal filing cabinets would be useful, there was a row of those in the shop in my barn and the contents stayed in good shape.
 

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