Bethesda, MD · Member since 2015 · 27 posts · 4 votes
Hello all,
Not sure if this is the right subforum, but I'm looking at buying a townhome that has a finished basement with an unfinished utility room. Not under contract yet, and this is the only thing seriously giving me pause. When the utility door is open, you can get a whiff of a musty odor outside of the utility room, and the smell is stronger (but not over-powering) inside.
I've thought it normal for basements to smell a little musty, and most people that I've talked to about this feel the same. Looking online, it seems that the smell only comes from mold or mildew. How concerned should I be? Would you feel confident having a home inspector using a moisture meter and looking for signs of leakage?
Every basement has moisture issues. Every house has mold and mildew. The real question is how significant is the problem?
I would be unconcerned about the utility room. If it is unfinished, you should be able to see everything that is going on.
I would be far more concerned about the finished portion of the basement because you can't see what was done behind the walls. If they did not install a vapor barrier or have foundational leakage, you could have moisture trapped there and it could be developing into a bigger problem. It is nothing you can't fix by tearing out the walls and starting the re-finish over, but better to know before buying.
You need de-humidify the room / space. I bet there is not vent (supply air) in the room and you are not getting enough air movement with the door shut. Opening the door or running a fan in the room will help the problem. You can't install a return air grille into the room if you have water heater and or furnace in the room due to the exhaust the give off. You want to keep the humidity under 40%. In the summer or after a rain its easy to have 65% humidity inside.