There’s a problem that’s puzzling and annoying many of your neighbors in their Indianapolis, Noblesville, or Carmel homes. Maybe the same thing is baffling and irritating you. What isthat musty smell in the basement that persists no matter how often and diligently you clean?
After doing battle with it for a long while, you may be on the brink of deciding you simply have to live with your smelly basement, but don’t throw in the towel just yet. There is a musty basement solution, and the following guide will tell you how to get rid of basement odor.
The Musty Smell in the Basement: Find the Cause
To deal with a smelly basement, you must first identify the cause. All the mopping, sweeping, and spraying didn’t do the trick because dirt and grime aren’t responsible. The problem is dampness.
Your basement amounts to a moisture trap. Warm air from the spaces overhead seeps down, moisture condenses, and it in turn ends up in cold water pipes and dark cellar walls. The dampness fosters the growth of mold, and the mod in turn produces that damp basement smell.
Thus your musty basement solution starts with finding the damp area or areas. Water could be getting in through a cracked foundation, a cracked window, or a broken seal, so be sure to check for those. Leaking pipes, sewer backups, clogged rain gutters, French drains, and broken seals on laundry dryer vents are other potential sources of trouble.
The Musty Smell in the Basement: Remove the Cause
Having found the source of the damp basement smell, you’ll naturally want to eliminate it. Repair walls cracks, cracked windows, cracks in the foundation, broken seals, etc. as indicated. Remove moisture with a dehumidifier and increase ventilation with a window fan. Insulating pipes to prevent future damage is a good idea as well.
The Musty Smell in the Basement: The Mold Must Die
The next step in your musty basement solution is to kill the mold that is making it. Put undiluted white vinegar in a spray bottle and mist the area where the mold is growing. Go heavy. The mold has it coming.
During the process, you’ll want good ventilation and air circulation, so make sure the windows are open. Allow the mist to dry thoroughly.
The Musty Smell in the Basement: Lift the Smell
After going through all this, you may be chagrinned to sniff and discover you still have a smelly basement, but don’t be. You still have a step to go. Leave out open containers of cat litter, bowls of white vinegar, or baking soda throughout the cellar. They’ll kill the lingering musty smell in a couple days.
