Dampness in the underground of a private house, what to do. How to get rid of dampness and moisture in a cellar or basement. Additional Causes of Humidity

The gardening season seems to be over, but the worries and troubles are not getting less. And, perhaps, the most important thing is to preserve everything that has been grown and collected. We devoted the previous issue to homemade vegetables and fruits. We hope our recommendations will be useful to many of you. However, I want to preserve the grown and harvested not only in canned form, but also in fresh. This is what we will talk about this time. For useful recommendations we again turned to a practitioner - leading researcher of the processing and storage department of the Republican Unitary Enterprise "Institute of Fruit Growing", Candidate of Agricultural Sciences Maria Maksimenko.

Photo by Maxim Vecher

First of all, it is necessary to test the places where vegetables and fruits are stored - basements, cellars, and so on. Their biggest problem is dampness. Because of it, mold appears, potatoes, carrots, beets and other root vegetables rot, cabbage and pumpkins, apples and pears spoil. By the way, even seams can suffer due to dampness. As a result, the work of the entire season will be undone. But before you start fighting dampness, you need to decide what causes it, the specialist advises.

Let's go down to the cellar

The cellar is a special structure. And with the usual standards, for example, as a house, you cannot approach it. If for you and me the optimal humidity is 65%, then for most vegetables and fruits a humidity of 70% is already critical - they begin to wither, dry out, lose useful substances and, of course, are poorly stored. Each fruit has its own requirements. But if the entire garden harvest is collected in one place (which, of course, is not entirely correct), then the optimal level of air humidity should be within 85-90%.

Humidity is not temperature; it cannot be measured by sensations. It is better to use instruments - a psychrometer or hygrometer.

To determine the cause of dampness, you can perform a small test. If the floor in the storage room is earthen, this will be quite easy to do. Dig holes (about the size of a bucket) in the cellar next to the walls and monitor them regularly. If the bottom begins to get wet, then most likely the groundwater is high. It may happen that water does not appear at the bottom of all test recesses, but only in some: this means that an underground stream flows under the cellar.

When moisture seeps from the outer (facing the street) wall of the pit, it most likely penetrates surface water, rain or melt water. Well, if the water evenly moistens the entire inner surface of the hole, then most likely it is condensation.

If there are regularly puddles in the cellar (and this is the most severe case), then this is possible in two cases: the construction technology is violated or the location is simply poorly chosen. But there is only one way out - the construction of a new storage facility.

Take care of ventilation

The key to quality storage is good ventilation. And it should be not one pipe, but two - with inflow and exhaust, with a diameter of at least 125 mm. The bottom of the supply pipe is placed at a height of 15-20 cm from the floor. Air from the street comes through it. The second pipe ends almost at the ceiling - 10 cm below its level. This is a hood. Ventilation pipes on the street should be covered with umbrellas to prevent leaves and precipitation from getting into them. The exhaust pipe should be higher and it is better to install a deflector on it to activate draft - a special aerodynamic device. The pipe can also be painted black: due to heating from the sun, the draft will be better.

It is advisable that the supply and exhaust pipes be placed in different corners of the cellar: then air flows will wash the entire room.

Ventilation pipes must be insulated so that they do not freeze in winter, and condensate collectors and valves must be installed on them. The valves will reduce the air flow in winter so that the cellar does not get too cold in frosty weather.

Good ventilation will regulate humidity, eliminate excess dampness, prevent the formation of mold and help dry out the storage faster.

BY THE WAY

For good traction ventilation ducts make it straight. If a diversion to the side is necessary, the angle of inclination should be at least 60 degrees, and the length of the inclined section should not be more than 100 cm.

With a stove and a candle

Sometimes dampness appears in dry storage. Again, check the ventilation to see if its channels are clogged. If you cleaned it and nothing changed, it means the exhaust pipe is not working well. This often happens when the air in the cellar is colder than outside. Heavy and cold, it will not rise up the pipe on its own. A paradoxical, at first glance, situation arises: when it was cold and damp outside, it was dry in the cellar. It got warmer, and drops of moisture hung on the ceiling and walls - a musty smell appeared. To dry the cellar, you need to speed up the air movement.

Typically, in such cases, stoves and kerosene gases are installed in the storage facility and the walls are heated. But this is a complex and time-consuming matter. Someone puts on the primus, and someone turns it on blowtorch. However, all this is fraught with undesirable consequences: the cellar may not be dried, and you may lose your house due to a fire. And you shouldn’t deal with such heating alone: you still need someone to insure you. Firstly, the temperature is high. Secondly, smoke accumulates inside and there may even be carbon monoxide.

It is better to fill an old leaky bucket or any other metal container with smoldering coals, lower them into the vegetable storage, securing it so that it hangs above the floor. Once every 20-30 minutes, the cellar lid needs to be opened to let in an additional portion of oxygen. You can install a fan on the supply pipe. When the coals burn out, remove the bucket and close the lid tightly. Don’t look inside for three days: smoke and gases will not only dry out the room, but will also kill mold and disinfect the cellar.

Often instead charcoal use coke or coal. They burn longer and give more high temperature, but they also require more oxygen.

Sometimes sufficient draft for drying can be created by other, more in a simple way- with a candle. This “old-fashioned method” is suitable if there is no electricity and there is nowhere to turn on the fan. Extend the ventilation pipe down almost to the floor. Place a burning candle under it tin can. To create the initial draft, light the paper directly in the pipe, and in the future a candle flame will be sufficient. The air in the pipe will heat up and a normal draft will arise, which will pull the damp air away from the floor. In two or three days it is quite possible to dry the cellar. Dry alcohol tablets are also used instead of candles.

When a pillow doesn't hurt

To get rid of rain and melt water penetrating into the cellar, a blind area and drainage are made around the structure. Proper waterproofing will save the walls from getting wet.

With groundwater everything is much more complicated. If the floor is earthen, then you can create an additional gravel cushion, which will disrupt the capillarity of the soil. Gravel or sand is poured until the humidity decreases and the level drops groundwater.

Good solution and clay. It is known to be a natural moisture regulator. But today, unfortunately, adobe floors and clay plaster on the walls are rarely used in cellars.

If you decide to do clay castle, remove 6-7 cm of the earthen floor, lay a layer of clay, level its surface and cover it with plastic film folded in half. You can use roofing felt, but it tears and breaks more often, although it seems more durable.

Pour another layer of clay on top (you can also pour concrete) and tamp everything down well. When the clay dries, the humidity in the cellar will decrease and the air will become noticeably drier.

You don’t have to cover the film with anything - just leave it like that. And so that it does not tear when you walk on it, knock down wooden panels and lay them on the floor. Scatter pieces of slaked lime under them. They will collect moisture and will not allow mold fungi to run wild.

If droplets of water accumulate on the ceiling (this is condensation), it means that the ceilings are poorly insulated. This can be corrected by additionally insulating the top of the cellar. And to quickly remove droplets, walk along the ceiling with a rubber plate. By sticking, it will “push” drops, which can be immediately collected in a bucket.

Folk and scientific methods

Quickly dry the air in the storage ceramic bricks. It is enough to heat them and place them in corners and along the walls. When hot, they will actively absorb moisture in the room. And when it cools down, reheat it again.

Whitewashing with lime also gives good results - it actively “collects” moisture from the air. Therefore, before draining the basement, it makes sense to whitewash everything. Just apply not a thin, but a thick layer of lime to the walls. And it would be nice to add a little diluted whitewash to a bucket of thick whitewash. copper sulfate. He is an excellent disinfectant. But its concentration should not be higher than 5%. Divide the resulting liquid into two parts.

After the first painting, wait a couple of days for everything to dry. Whiten it again. As a result, the walls and ceiling are porous and uneven. But condensation rarely hangs on them: lime retains moisture well inside.

It absorbs moisture and calcium chloride well: 1 kg of dry matter absorbs 1.5 liters of water. It is laid out, collected a day later, heated or calcined and used again. You just need to work carefully: chlorine and calcium vapors are also toxic!

You can do it even simpler: pour dry sawdust in the cellar. When they get wet, throw them away and add new ones. Of course, this method will not dry out the basement, but it will reduce the humidity in it. There will definitely not be a drop of condensation on the ceiling.

Or you can even place empty ones cardboard boxes- They absorb moisture very well. After 10-15 hours, remove the wet and soggy ones and replace them with new ones.

Salt and ash are also good adsorbents. True, they will perform their function only until they absorb the maximum amount of moisture.

Acid them!

Increased humidity leads to mold and fungi appearing on walls, shelves and ceilings - different types, flowers and scents. Did you know that they cannot tolerate acidic environments? Therefore, they can be washed off with citric, boric or acetic acid. You can treat the walls with diesel fuel and whitewash the top with lime.

The best way is to treat with freshly slaked lime. The vapors generated when it is extinguished will destroy insects, mold and fungi. However, such vapors are also deadly to humans, so take all precautions! Put on rubber gloves and a bandage on your face. Take quicklime lump lime at the rate of 2-3 kg per 10 cubic meters. m of cellar volume, put it in a tank or barrel, fill it with water, do not disturb (!) and leave the cellar immediately. Close doors and vents tightly. To seal them, caulk them with clay. Keep the cellar closed for two days, then open and ventilate thoroughly. If there are a lot of pests, repeat the treatment after 5-6 days.

Sulfur is also used for disinfection: per 1 cubic meter. m of cellar volume they burn 40-50 g of it. But you need to be especially careful with it: only fumigate rooms that are not adjacent to residential buildings!

It is also very good to disinfect storage areas with sulfur bombs - it is effective and safe. The checker copes well with ticks, other harmful insects, pathogens, fungi, and rot on wooden structures. The smell of gas will repel rodents for a long time.

Uninvited guests

Mice and rats are not only unwanted, but also dangerous guests in storage. Take a close look at the walls, seal the cracks with special care with cement, tin or brick, and close all ventilation ducts metal mesh so that no rodents can enter there. Since they cannot tolerate the smell of mothballs, mix it in equal parts with sawdust and place them near their loopholes, passages, and holes. They also don’t like the aroma of black root and wild mint. Dried plants placed near their nests will put rodents to flight.

Mice cannot tolerate the smell of burnt rubber. Therefore, you can fumigate the cellar with rubber smoke. Place an old bucket of smoldering coals on a tray with sand and put pieces of old coals on them car tires or galoshes.

Of course, poisons can be used to control rodents. But you have to be careful so that they don’t go to pets, like cats. The most commonly used is “Zookoumarin” (50 g per 1 kg of bait) - 0.5 g per 1 sq. m. Some people mix malt or sugar into a container with quicklime, and place a bowl of water next to it. The eaten lime causes thirst, and after drinking water, the rat dies.

You can lay out poisoned baits and “tastier ones” (bread with potatoes, watered sunflower oil, cottage cheese, minced meat or fish, etc.). But since rodents can transfer the bait to another place by dragging it over vegetables, it is better to use mousetraps or rat traps (traps) during storage. However, before installation (as well as after each “catch”), do not forget to rinse them well with boiling water to remove excess odors.

NOTE

The cause of dampness can be determined by the location of the moisture.

* If droplets form on the ceiling and walls, there is poor ventilation.

* Drops are only on the walls - there is no vertical waterproofing of the basement walls.

* Puddles on the floor - flooding with groundwater.

ADVICE

Sphagnum peat will help protect fruits from rot and bacteria, purify the air, and stabilize air humidity. Fill it at the rate of 10-15 kg per ton of fruit, and losses will decrease by 2-3 times.

As a sorbent for removing unpleasant odors Peat is also used as an antiseptic. Potatoes, onions, and turnips are perfectly preserved in peat dust. But it must be taken into account that when laying it, it must be well dried. And mice don’t like to live in peat.

GO TO US

It is not difficult to make a psychrometer yourself. To do this, you will need two alcohol thermometers. Mount them next to each other on a common stand. Wrap the ball of one thermometer in damp gauze, while leaving the other one dry. A wet bulb thermometer will indicate more low temperature. From the difference in data (see table) you can find out the relative humidity.

To get rid of dampness, you need to carry out a number of preparatory measures. Understand why it appeared, where the moisture is coming from and how you can fix it. You will learn about all this from our article.

Dampness is a very unpleasant phenomenon that can destroy stored crops. If moisture “settles” in the room, this can lead to destruction of the structure and deterioration in the health of everyone who regularly goes down to the cellar or basement. Read about why dampness “comes to visit” and how to get rid of it as quickly as possible in our material.

Dampness in the house - causes

Condensation forms on ceilings, floors and walls for a number of reasons. The most common causes of dampness are the following factors:

ventilation problems. Errors at the design or construction stage lead to poor ventilation in the room. The most common mistake is the following: poorly laid floor slabs and construction waste block ventilation ducts;

When there is a difference in temperature inside and outside the room, condensation forms on the windows and walls, and this is the first sign that mold will soon appear.

rising groundwater levels. In spring and autumn, when basements and cellars begin to flood due to heavy rains, dampness also increases. Poor drainage leads to water accumulating in underground storage facilities, the humidity level rises sharply, and the room turns into an eternally damp closed system;

capillary penetration of moisture from the soil or through cracks. If the foundation was built in violation of technology, then after some time due to temperature changes droplets of moisture will appear on its internal walls. Over time, this can lead to partial damage to the walls and even their collapse.

Mold spores can be caused by many dangerous diseases, including cancerous tumors

Why is dampness dangerous?

The appearance of condensation and characteristic bad smell These are just the first signs of impending trouble. Condensation causes the following consequences:

mold and mildew appear; temperature regime and the level of humidity in the room; microorganisms harmful to humans multiply; walls, ceilings and ceilings are constantly waterlogged.

Because of this, the finishing suffers; the destruction of the foundation, walls and ceilings begins.

Concrete surfaces and tiles are most often attacked by mold fungi

How to get rid of dampness

First of all, all summer residents are concerned with the question of how to remove dampness. There are several reliable ways to eliminate dampness in the cellar and basement, but first you need to find out what caused the excess moisture. To do this, carefully inspect the room:

If droplets of water appeared on the walls and ceiling, the reason is a violation of ventilation;
puddles on the floor indicate an increase in groundwater levels;
droplets only on the walls hint at the lack of basement waterproofing.

Now let's look in more detail at ways to eliminate each of the reasons.

How to improve ventilation

If air exchange in a room is poor, the easiest way to improve it is by organizing additional ventilation. Basement ventilation there are two types:

natural - involves the use of the so-called. "vents" - openings around the perimeter of the building. Their total area should be about 1/400 total area buildings; forced - implies the use special equipment, which forcibly pumps fresh air. Typically used in large rooms.

Installation forced ventilation- expensive pleasure

To get rid of condensation on the ceiling and walls, you can carry out the following procedures:

Thermal insulation utility networks

sewer pipes

mineral wool

Hood organization

load-bearing elements

different heights

Lowering groundwater levels

If groundwater penetrates into a room, this is a serious problem, which over time can lead to partial collapse of the building. In this case, it is necessary to carry out a number of additional measures aimed at strengthening the foundation and pumping out groundwater.

In particular, you will need to do the following:

dig out the foundation;
organize drainage around the perimeter of the building;
strengthen the foundation; arrange external and internal waterproofing;
make a blind area around the perimeter of the building;
dry the room.

Only qualified specialists can carry out the entire range of work on groundwater drainage.

How to get rid of capillary moisture

If moisture forms on the walls of a building, this means that it penetrates from the external environment, namely from the soil. You can prevent its access indoors using some of the most popular measures:

use of waterproofing materials- primarily roofing felt, linochrome and waterproofing. All of them are made from pieces of dense material impregnated with bitumen. The cellar or basement is covered with outside, and from the inside;

protective compounds, which clog the pores in concrete, are also considered an excellent “cure” for capillary moisture;

Thanks to these compositions, it is possible to organize both a targeted effect on the holes through which moisture seeps, and application to all problem areas.

bitumen mastic and polymer resins used for additional protection of walls and floors from condensation. These compounds can be applied independently, but they do not always provide the necessary level of protection and it is better to supplement them with waterproofing materials;

shielding used in particularly difficult cases when, simultaneously with capillary action, groundwater appears in the room. Protective shields are made of geotextile, bentonite or clay.

With capillary penetration, moisture from the floor evaporates and settles on the walls

External waterproofing of a basement or cellar

Inspect the structure and check the condition of the slopes, drainpipes, drainage system and blind area. If you basically do not have a drainage system, then first start by installing drainpipes and slopes. Next, move on to protecting the external walls:

remove the old blind area;
dig a hole about 50 cm wide from outer wall basement;
dry the outer wall;
apply an antifungal composition to it;
coat the wall bitumen mastic, clay or concrete with liquid glass additives;
make a blind area from a sheet of roofing material - secure it 0.5 m above the ground level and extend it beyond the edges of the outer wall of the basement;
fill the hole.

External insulation can be supplemented with a drainage system

Internal basement waterproofing

After completing external work, you can also insulate the basement or cellar with inside. This is done like this:

dry the room;
remove all crumbling coatings and whitewash;
find and clear all cracks;
saturate the walls with an antifungal agent;
apply a waterproofing compound;
if desired, plaster the walls at a height of 0.5-1 m from the floor.

Instead of applying plaster, you can treat the walls with a waterproofing compound

Floor work to eliminate dampness

If moisture penetrates the walls, gets onto the floor and evaporates, you should also deal with floor covering. The floor and walls should be concreted using liquid glass and roofing felt.

You can also follow a simple algorithm (if you have a clay floor):

remove a layer of clay about 5 cm thick;
level the floor surface and cover it with two layers of waterproofing film;
sprinkle it with clay on top or fill it with concrete and level the surface.

Use only putty on cement based, since their gypsum analogues actively absorb moisture

In case seasonal flooding of the area use another method:

Place a layer of sand or gravel about 10 cm thick on the floor to protect against groundwater flooding. Add more gravel if necessary if groundwater seeps through the drainage layer;
Apply special waterproofing plaster to the walls;
place in the corners of the cellar glass jars with calcium chloride (it will absorb excess moisture). For one cellar no more than 0.5-1 kg of powder is required;
Sprinkle the floor with quicklime in a 1 cm layer - it will absorb excess moisture and dry the room. To combat fungus and mold, you can slak the lime directly in the basement. Pour some lime into an empty container and fill it with water. The released vapors will destroy germs and mold.

During the release of lime vapors, it is better to leave the room. Return there in an hour and immediately organize ventilation for several hours.

Traditional methods of dealing with dampness

You can normalize the humidity level in the cellar using folk remedies:

dry the cellar walls using clay bricks. Place 2-3 bricks heated over a fire in different corners of the basement. As they cool, they will begin to absorb moisture. To achieve maximum effect, they can be reused; to get rid of mold, treat the walls of the cellar with vinegar or boric acid(dilute 20 ml of acid in 1 liter of water), can be used citric acid(dissolve 100 g of powder in 1 liter of water); remove all products stored there from the basement or cellar and treat the damp walls with diesel fuel, and then whitewash them.

Removing dampness and mold is a rather labor-intensive process. Therefore, you need to take care of organizing drainage and waterproofing in advance, then you won’t have to deal with high humidity. What methods of dealing with dampness do you know?

A damp basement or cellar in a house can cause many problems for owners. A high degree of humidity not only causes food spoilage, but also the rapid destruction of building walls. You can get rid of dampness yourself if you take the necessary measures.

Dampness in the basement or cellar: causes, optimal humidity level

Before you start removing dampness from a basement or cellar, you need to have a good understanding of the reasons for its occurrence. It can appear in the basement of a brick, slag concrete, foam concrete or aerated concrete house, or in a wooden one.

Penetration of dampness from outside

Water can enter the basement from the outside or appear as water droplets on the walls and ceiling.

It seeps into the basement or cellar through microscopic cracks and defects in the walls, as well as due to poorly installed communication networks.
If the basement is damp, then you need to pay attention to the condition of the blind area.
Growing near the foundation big trees can pass water into the room through their root system.
Close proximity to the surface of underground groundwater can cause dampness.

Internal moisture source

If condensation collects on the walls, it won't work well in the basement. ventilation system or it is completely absent. To eliminate the cause, two pipes are enough to create a supply and exhaust ventilation. In large basements, natural ventilation is usually insufficient, so it is necessary to create a forced system, thanks to which you can independently regulate the temperature in the room. If there are water pipes, they must have good thermal insulation to prevent condensation on the walls and ceiling.

Why does the basement of a wooden house become damp?

Since the tree is natural material, then it is susceptible to various negative “diseases” - the appearance of mold and mildew, rotting. Therefore, dampness often appears in the basements of such buildings. If there is a pleasant microclimate in the house, but on the walls basement greenish spots appear and an unpleasant smell of rot is felt, this indicates high humidity. First, assess the condition of the drainage and sewerage system. If there are no problems in this area, and the fungus does not disappear, you need to look at the problem more broadly.

Reason high level humidity can be caused by poor quality waterproofing and insufficient ventilation system. Fungus and mold will never appear in a dry and well-ventilated basement. The waterproofing layer will not allow moisture to penetrate into the room, which contributes to the development of fungal and mold growths. Special attention it is necessary to pay attention to old wooden buildings, in which the primary layer of waterproofing has long been damaged.

Why does dampness occur in the garage?

This is a non-residential building that does not require major insulation work. But many people have basements in their garages where they store various foods and canned goods. And in this case, dampness becomes a problem. As in a regular house, the garage must have good ventilation, waterproofing and an external blind area.

When the temperature outside is below freezing, the humidity level in the basement increases. This occurs due to the temperature difference between outside and inside the room. Cold street air cools the walls, and inside the basement the temperature is much higher and therefore the air, cooling in the basement, turns into condensation and accumulates on surfaces in the form of water droplets. As a result, humidity increases, which creates favorable conditions for the growth of fungi and mold.

What level of humidity is considered normal?

For human body normal level humidity is about 40–60%. At higher percentages, the risk of chronic respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and dangerous bronchial asthma. Dampness causes wet spots, mold and a suffocating putrid odor to appear. Wooden structures deteriorate, and stone and concrete structures begin to crumble. Metal elements become covered with rust, and wooden ones quickly rot.

If it is impossible to remove dampness through natural ventilation, the humidity regime in the house is disrupted and fungal spores that float in the air begin to actively multiply not only inside living quarters, but also in basements (cellars). This process is becoming large-scale. If the humidity level reaches 70% or more, and the room temperature is 15 ° C, then you should begin to take active measures. First, you need to accurately determine the humidity level using a hygrometer, and then move on to identifying the source of the dampness and eliminating the problem.

How to remove dampness from the basement: effective methods of control

Cracks become a dangerous source of moisture seeping into the room. Therefore, the first thing to do is to eliminate them.

External waterproofing

First, you should check the condition of the house outside, since very often dampness appears due to poor-quality installation of drainage.

We inspect the slopes on the building.
We make sure that the drainpipes drain water into a special storm drain funnel underground or into a surface gutter.
Checking drainage system which is located around the house.
Let's look at the condition of the blind area.

All detected problems must be corrected.

Then you need to protect the walls underground.

We remove the destroyed blind area.
We dig a small hole outside the basement walls, about 0.5 m wide and half a meter deep below floor level.
They dig a hole half a meter wide around the house to dry the walls.
We carefully dry the external walls of the house. This can be done naturally or using special construction fans.
We treat the walls with special antiseptics.
We fill the hole with crushed stone.
We make a dense underground blind area from roofing felt. To do this, we attach a sheet of material half a meter above the ground level on the wall of the house and take it beyond the edge of the outer wall.
We make high-quality blind area.
We coat it with bitumen mastic.

Internal waterproofing device

As a result of improperly done basement waterproofing, dampness begins to appear over time. To keep the room dry, this needs to be fixed.

Dry the basement well.
We remove the old peeling coating from the walls, ceiling and floor.
Removing plaster damaged by mold and mildew from walls is necessary for high-quality repair of all defects.
We clear all the cracks and cracks. Carefully seal the damaged areas with cement mortar.
We saturate all the walls effective means against fungus and mold.
A special product is used to clean concrete surfaces from fungus and mold.
We thoroughly coat all walls, ceiling and floor with bitumen mastic (or other waterproofing agent).
We seal the leaks and where they were previously, with alabaster.
The installation of internal waterproofing of the basement is carried out by treating the walls with water-repellent materials
For greater efficiency, you can re-plaster the basement walls.
After drying and waterproofing treatment, you can also re-plaster the basement walls

Some actions will help enhance the waterproofing effect.

Waterproofing cement basement floor

Dismantle the old floor.
Seal all existing cracks and cracks in the concrete with cement mortar.
When everything is dry, fill the floor with sifted sand or fine expanded clay (a layer of at least 5 cm).
Lay sheets of roofing felt on top, 3 mm thick, with an overlap of 10 cm on each other and on the walls. You can use a special waterproofing film for the floor.
Once again, seal all the cracks with bitumen mastic and make a new screed.
If desired, you can lay joists and install a wooden floor.

Waterproofing a clay basement floor

If the basement floor is made of clay, this will speed up the process.

Remove a small layer of clay (5 cm).
Level the base.
We lay polyethylene on top in 2 layers with an overlap of 10 cm on each other and on the walls.
Pour a layer of slightly moistened clay with sawdust (10–15 cm thick) on top of the film and compact it well. We take sawdust and clay in a ratio of 1:10.
As the clay dries, it will crack a little, so the cracks will need to be sealed with the same solution.
Then we place another similar layer of clay extending 20–25 cm onto the walls.
When the clay dries, the humidity in the cellar will decrease and the air will be much drier.

How to remove basement dampness during the rainy season

It often happens that humidity increases in the fall and spring season large prolapse precipitation. In this case, a different method of removing dampness is used.

We fill the floor with sand or gravel, about 10 cm thick. If the moisture does not go away, add more. This will reduce the level groundwater to the point where water cannot rise above floor level.
To remove condensation from the walls, you need to use a special waterproofing plaster solution, which will allow the walls and floor in the cellar to “breathe.” You can buy it already ready mixture(Monolit, Ceresit, Polimin, Consolit) or make it yourself. To do this, you need to mix hydraulic additives and dry plaster: for example, 250 ml of Tsemaplast superplasticizer and 50 kg of cement or 21 g of Palmix per 50 kg of dry cement.

How to strengthen a thin basement floor

A thin floor causes dampness in the cellar. In this case, it is necessary to make a double base by laying sheets of roofing material that will protect the floor from excess moisture. All joints must be well coated with bitumen mastic, and then a finishing cement screed must be made on top.

An excellent way to eliminate dampness is calcium chloride. It is able to absorb moisture, as it is considered an excellent absorbent: pour the powder into various containers and place them in the corners of the cellar. Usually 0.5 kg of the substance is enough for a small cellar.

Ventilation system

A poor ventilation system is one of the main causes of dampness in the basements of brick or wood houses.

Installation of a simple supply and exhaust system

Take two thick pipes, one of which is drawn from the floor in the basement and brought out under the very ceiling to the street with a height of about 30 cm. The pipe should not reach the floor by about 10 cm. This will be the supply system.
Place the second pipe directly under the ceiling and also extend it to the street by about 40–60 cm. This will be an exhaust system.
The pipes should be at different ends of the room. Install special covers at their ends that will protect the holes from rain and melt water getting into them.

Video: ventilation device in the garage basement

Traditional methods of dealing with dampness

There are inexpensive but effective traditional methods combating dampness in basements.

To remove dampness, place four jars of white moss powder on the floor or shelves in the corners of the room. It absorbs moisture perfectly. This method will be effective only with a small percentage of basement humidity.
You can remove moisture using hydrochloric acid. To do this, we remove all food and preserves from the basement. We dilute the acid so that a weak solution is obtained (100 ml per 1 liter of water). We put on gloves and carefully treat the walls, shelves, ceiling and floor with the resulting solution. You must be careful, as hydrochloric acid can cause chemical burns.
Another method is also effective. Place a glass or ceramic deep dish on the floor, fill it with rock salt, and pour sulfuric acid on top. It is necessary to work only in protective clothing in compliance with all safety measures. The vapors that will be released as a result chemical reaction, are capable of destroying mold and fungal spores. When the dampness goes away, it is necessary to ventilate the room well and wash all surfaces. You can purchase sulfuric acid in online chemical stores. This is a very dangerous substance, so you should think carefully about the advisability of using it in the basement of a residential building, so as not to endanger the people living in it.
After creating a ventilation system, you can use slaked lime to further remove excess moisture. To do this, you just need to place a deep container with the substance in the corner of the basement. It not only absorbs moisture, but also kills developing fungi in pairs.
If the walls in the basement are damp, but fungi and mold have not yet begun to appear, you can put them in different places hot clay bricks (3–4 pieces for a small room). As the clay cools, it will begin to actively absorb moisture. When the bricks have cooled, they must be heated again.
You can place an electric fireplace near a damp wall. It will warm up required area and dry it out. But this method will be effective only if the basement is damp small area walls.
Mold and mildew in the basement can be removed with boric, acetic or citric acid. You just need to wash all surfaces well with one of the active substances.
You can remove dampness from the cellar using regular diesel fuel. In this case, it is important to first clear the room of food, and only then thoroughly treat the walls and ceiling with fuel and whiten the surfaces.

Dampness in the garage basement or wooden house may arise due to the proximity of groundwater or the location of the building in a lowland. Wooden structures are most susceptible to rotting due to high levels of humidity, so methods for eliminating the cause must be effective, but folk methods are not always so.

An eco-friendly way to kill fungus in the basement - video

How to eliminate dampness and fungus in a wooden cellar

Also remove mold from wooden surfaces can be done using a solution of sodium fluoride, zinc chloride, sodium silicofluoride or ammonium.

Ammonium sulfate powder removes mold from the walls of a wooden cellar

You can prepare a special paste.

Take 150 g of sodium fluoride, 135 clay and 200 ml of water.
Add a chemical to boiling water and add clay.
Mix everything well until a homogeneous consistency is formed.
Use the resulting paste to treat all surfaces of the cellar and leave them to dry. This amount of paste is enough to treat 1 m2 of wooden wall section. For greater efficiency, we repeat the treatment after a month.

Sodium silicofluoride powder is necessary for preparing a paste used to protect wooden structures from moisture

How to prevent dampness from appearing: preventive measures

If you live in an old house and cracks regularly appear in the basement that cause dampness, then you need to seal them well with rags soaked in bitumen mastic and cover them with plaster on top. This will be a temporary method, but it will prevent water from entering the room.
In the basement you can make a pit, which is a metal or concrete “glass” for water drainage. It will be possible to easily pump water out of it with a pump. But in this case, the floor in the room should have a slight slope towards the pit.
It is necessary to regularly monitor the condition of the basement, check the condition of the sewerage and water supply systems, as well as the roof of the house.
It is important to regularly ventilate the room.
On hot days in summer, take everything out wooden shelves and racks outside so that they dry out and warm up well in the sun.
Treat walls every season with effective antiseptic agents.

Depending on how damp the walls and other surfaces of the basement are, as well as the cause of this problem, it is necessary to choose means to solve it. Using correctly various methods removing moisture, you can always keep your basement or cellar clean and dry.

For most summer residents and country residents, dampness in the cellar is a huge problem. The reason for the increase in humidity is considered to be poor-quality thermal or waterproofing. Another reason may be the lack of a ventilation system.

Whatever the reason, a wet basement is not suitable for storing food. Therefore, moisture needs to be removed and condensation removed. Today we will tell you how to dry the cellar, disinfect it and prepare it for planting the harvest.

How to dry a cellar

For drying, choose a dry sunny day. First of all, we remove all the products and boxes remaining there from the room; we also need to remove the shelves, disassemble the racks and pallets. Next, you need to sweep out all the debris and sand. If there is water, it needs to be pumped out.

All existing structures are cleaned hot water with the addition of soap and baking soda. Next, all parts are treated with a solution of lime and copper sulfate. This will help get rid of fungus, mold and harmful bacteria. After this, all the parts are left to dry in the sun for several days.

Note: The places where the furniture stood are thoroughly washed to remove dirt and mold. For greater effect, you can use a mixture of salt and sulfuric acid, which is left inside for three hours.

After this, we open the doors, all ventilation pipes and hatches to dry the room.

How to quickly dry a cellar from dampness with ventilation

There is a certain algorithm for drying underground storage, which depends, first of all, on the presence of ventilation in it. Let's consider how this process occurs in rooms with ventilation systems or openings.

Heating the cellar

If the weather is warm outside, but the dampness needs to be removed now and ventilation does not help, you need to heat the air. To do this, take an old metal bucket and make holes in the bottom and walls. Then they securely attach it to the cable and pour coals into the bucket. The coals are ignited and a constant combustion is established. A bucket of smoldering coals is lowered onto a cable into the basement and secured so that it hangs above the floor, and the room itself is closed (Figure 1).

The doors need to be opened every 20-30 minutes. But you can’t go inside, as the temperature there is high and accumulation is possible. carbon monoxide. After the coals have burned out, take out the bucket and close the cellar. You can’t look inside for three days; the smoke will kill mold and disinfect the room. In this way you can get rid of dampness in the basement under the garage.

Figure 1. Drying the basement using the heating method

Instead of a bucket of coal, you can use: a potbelly stove (just lower it into the basement and heat it), heat gun high power, propane or kirogas burner. However, it should be borne in mind that these methods are considered quite dangerous and cannot be used alone.

How to dry a cellar from dampness without ventilation

If a ventilation system was not installed during the construction of the basement, it is necessary to install some kind of pipes. They can be installed in the wall or ceiling. You can also purchase a fan with a supply and exhaust mechanism.

After flooding, you first need to pump out the water. Then take everything out and dry it at open doors and hatches and whitewashing with lime. After this, you can use the methods described below.

A cellar without ventilation can be dried using hydrophilic materials:

Slaked lime - destroys fungus and removes moisture. Placed on shelves and along walls.
Dry sawdust helps reduce humidity.
Calcium chloride tends to absorb moisture. You lay it out, assemble it in a day, heat it up and can use it again.
Dry cardboard boxes are used to prevent condensation on the ceiling.

You can purchase special equipment - household dehumidifier air, which can also effectively cope with the problem of high humidity.

Disinfection and control of fungi and mold

After drying, they begin to combat the main problem of underground storage facilities - mold and mildew. There are several for this effective methods, which we will describe below.

Lime vapor

Lime is a quick and inexpensive way get rid of the fungus. It is used to combat fungal colonies and for prevention.

Before starting work, carry out pre-treatment premises with disinfectant. The drug is diluted in water, then applied to all painted surfaces.

Figure 2. Disinfectant treatment with lime

There are two folk recipes, according to which you can clean the basement from fungus with lime:

Lime mixture with copper sulfate. To do this, take two buckets of water, 1 kg of slaked lime and 100 g of vitriol. Apply using a spray bottle (Figure 2).
Mixture with formaldehyde. For a bucket of water, use 200g of formaldehyde and 500g of bleach. The resulting solution is used to lubricate all surfaces inside the basement. The room should then be dried and ventilated.

Sulfur (smoke) bomb

Sulfur gas vapor is considered an effective method for removing fungus. To use a sulfur bomb, you need to block the air supply to the room, place the bomb in a tin basin and set it on fire. Then quickly exit and close the doors tightly (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Disinfection of the cellar with sulfur bomb vapors

Be careful, as sulfur smoke is dangerous to people and animals. After 12 hours, the room must be thoroughly ventilated and treated with slaked lime.

Mold Remover

There are cases of white fluffy mold appearing. This is a type of fungus. To combat it, use the methods described above, and you can also use a foam remover.

By applying the product to the site where the fungus appears, the mold immediately begins to curl. Subsequently, it does not appear on the treated area.

Floor bedding

If your basement has an earthen floor, you can lay thick plastic film on it (this will prevent excess moisture from appearing).

To do this, do wooden gratings and place them on the floor. Scatter pieces of slaked lime over the film. This will help prevent fungi and thus reduce moisture.

How to dry a cellar after a flood

Drying should begin immediately after flooding, as mold forms quickly. First you need to pump out the water in a way accessible to you. Next, take out all the furniture elements. The cover and ventilation hatches should be opened.

When most of the water has been removed, fans can be installed in the cellar and directed at the walls of the room. If possible, use a dehumidifier.

The dried-out room should be treated against fungus using copper sulfate or using a ready-made anti-mold product. The walls should be whitewashed with lime. Remember to use rubber boots and gloves while drying to avoid getting electrocuted.

A quick and easy way to dry a basement is shown in the video.

How to dry a cellar in a garage from condensation

To get rid of high humidity in the garage you should install good system ventilation:

Install one pipe for inflow, the second for outflow;
Mount one pipe (through the ceiling or wall) with an exhaust fan.

If condensation has already penetrated into the garage, you can use several proven methods for removing moisture:

Spread slaked lime along the perimeter of the walls and on the shelves. This will get rid of fungus and reduce moisture.
Place dry cardboard boxes on the floor. Change as moisture accumulates.
Scatter dry sawdust on the floor and change it when it gets wet.

You can also use dehumidifiers. For this purpose, the device model should be selected with medium power. After the walls have dried, they should be whitewashed with lime.

Carry out preventive drying every spring. After heavy summer and autumn rains, the room should also be dried. If you carry out preventive work, you will not be afraid of the fungus.