Dry Basement Smells Musty
It s probably not the first time you ve heard this but mould and mildew aren t exactly healthy.
Dry basement smells musty. With a few simple pantry items you can completely eliminate the odor and. Allow the spray to dry. It s likely mould and mildew. To remove any lingering musty smell try the old fashioned yet effective remedy of setting out a few small bowls of baking soda around the room.
Wet drywall has a musty smell while wet fiberglass have a sulfuric rotten egg smell. Mold growth can be in visible spaces as well as hidden in wall cavities in carpets and above ceilings. You can have enough mold growth on your basement walls or basement slab to have a musty smell even when the mold is invisible and the concrete looks dry. The final step for how to get rid of musty smell is actually lifting the odor.
As basements are typically below the ground level they don t have windows. The most common reason for musty odors in basements is the prolonged growth of mold in the space. Musty smells in the basement air are caused by mold growth water damage or high humidity levels. Closed dark and damp places are the perfect location for moulds to thrive.
You re not going to like this answer. Musty odors commonly occur on the basement for the following five reasons. Sewer gas distinctively smells like sewage and permeates through to affect all of the house smells. Both air flow and sunlight can help deodorize a room a great deal.
For an uninsulated slab the solution is to install a layer of polyethylene and then a layer of rigid foam and then osb or plywood subflooring above the slab. The solutions to fix these two problems are different. Since basements are built underground the basement exterior walls are generally cool in temperature and while warm air in the home comes into contact with the cool walls or surfaces it will produce condensation. Neutralize the musty smell in the basement.
You should notice a more pleasant smelling basement in a couple of days. Remove the source of odor. Or if they do the windows don t provide significant amount of sunlight or more inportantly air flow. Removing musty smells from a finished basement could mean placing filters in the ductwork leaving desiccant packs in out of the way corners or even odor absorbing cat litter trays beneath end tables.
The leading cause of musty smells in the basement however is simply lack of ventilation. If it smells musty it is musty. A musty smell from your basement indicates the presence of mold and mildew. What causes the musty smell in basements and other places.