Healthy Basement - Healthy Home
40% of the air your family breathes on your first floor of your home comes from your basement. This Blog is dedicated to educating consumers and contractors alike as to the importance of maintaining a healthy basement.
I have been helping people utilize their basement space for nearly 30 years. I have become the guy in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut that everyone knows as "the guy who's passionate about basements"
Nowadays people are using their basements differently then their ancestors did. In the 1800's and early 1900's people used the basement or "cellar" as a true root cellar that they built their houses over. Today, instead of storing potatoes people have home theaters, instead of growing mushrooms we now have children playing in the basement space.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't utilize the basement space, rather I'm saying that homeowners and contractors alike need to prepare that below grade basement space properly.
No long should we treat the basement as not a part of the house. Basements can be a great source of added usable space, but they can also be the source of mold, mildew, ground humidity, iron bacteria in sub floor drainage systems (french drains), radon, and even bugs.
I want to thank everyone who post comments on the article and adds content to this blog. It is the hope that collectively we can educate best practices as to how to prepare a basement so it is a healthy basement - one that promotes a healthy home.
I have been helping people utilize their basement space for nearly 30 years. I have become the guy in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut that everyone knows as "the guy who's passionate about basements"
Nowadays people are using their basements differently then their ancestors did. In the 1800's and early 1900's people used the basement or "cellar" as a true root cellar that they built their houses over. Today, instead of storing potatoes people have home theaters, instead of growing mushrooms we now have children playing in the basement space.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't utilize the basement space, rather I'm saying that homeowners and contractors alike need to prepare that below grade basement space properly.
No long should we treat the basement as not a part of the house. Basements can be a great source of added usable space, but they can also be the source of mold, mildew, ground humidity, iron bacteria in sub floor drainage systems (french drains), radon, and even bugs.
I want to thank everyone who post comments on the article and adds content to this blog. It is the hope that collectively we can educate best practices as to how to prepare a basement so it is a healthy basement - one that promotes a healthy home.
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Grate Drain system makes sense- I have been learning about the Grate Drain system for the past year. I am impressed and convinced that this basement water / moisture control system from Grate products is truly best system available today. As a home owner, my wife and I have decided to have this system installed throughout our basement. We currently do not have an obvious water problem, but we do have a moisture problem. Our dehumidifier runs constantly with significant increase in energy bills for at least six months out of the year. We have notice mold growth along the stair way leading downstairs and also on some items stored in our basement. More importantly, we have a child with asthma and do not want anything in our home to put him at further risk. From what I have learned, the GrateDrain closed basement waterproofing system will solve our problem and rid us of that musty smell. When we built our home, we thought we were doing the right thing. (crushed stone & thick floor) We even installed a French Drain along the perimeter. (It does not stop moisture.) A closed system simply makes sense.
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