Dehumidifier for Basement

VTCoins

I just dug up our dirt basement floor and poured concrete. We have a dry basement that is roughly 25 feet by 20 feet.

Now that we have a nice floor for storage, I was thinking about storing some paper products and maybe a few proof sets (nothing of value) in the basement. Before we did the floor, paper products would get musty. I'm thinking that they will still get a bit musty (even with the concrete), and was thinking about getting a dehumidifier.

Any ideas on what to look for in a dehumidifier? Recommend any models?

Thanks!

ms70

I'd store your coins in a "living" area. Probably the 1st floor is best for consistent temperatures.

Kip

I had a friend that poured a cement garage floor, parked his car in the garage, left for 2 months and came back to a rusty waterlogged auto. It takes a long time for moisture to leave cement. Just a thought.
I think a dehumidifier would have to work overtime to help.
GL
Kip

Cameonut

Concrete is very porous - think of it like a hard ceramic sponge. The same amount of water that was in your basement is still there, it will just be absorbed into the concrete.

I have had a dry basement for years and found that storing items down there can lead to the 'musties'. If I have something of value, I keep it upstairs. Humidifiers help, but don't solve the problem.

100proof1957

Concrete takes a long time to cure completely

it cures from the outside in,top and bottom

Calcium Chloride helps it cure faster but is highly corrosive,also depends on how dry the concrete was when poured,this is known as slump,the higher the slump the drier the concrete

Temp also plays a factor

Basement floor i assume was poured 4 inch deep though could be 6 inch

i would wait about 6 months before storing coins down there

F117ASR

What if he were to tile the floor. Would that eliminate some or all of the moisture?

RedTiger

I suggest doubling up on protection. In addition to a room dehumidifier, I suggest putting the proof sets and their paper work into plastic bins with smaller rechargeable silica packs. You could do similar with paper and books, but it can get cumbersome, depending on what they are and what kind of storage bins are used.

I have had success getting rid of the musty smell in my walk-in closet (about 9 x 6) with DampRid. These are crystals that absorb water. One time use only, but my starter pack has lasted over 2 months and the refill box with about five more scoops were only $3 at Target. I believe electricity on a dehumidifier will be a lot more than $3 a month. I check it every few days and pour out the water.

RGT

I've had a concrete basement for over 15 years now. Mine is only partially buried so it has a walk-out door. I keep all kinds of things down there like, tools, lawnmower, even motorcycles, but I've never tried to keep coins down there.

I bought the first dehumidifier from Sears. It was junk, like pretty much everything Sears sells. Don't go there.

The one I have now was bought at Lowes. I don't remember the brand, but they had 3-4 different models for different sized rooms. You would probably want to get the biggest one no matter what the size was recomended. You should be able to find them at any home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot.

I have a hose attached to mine that runs to a drain. If you can do that it is much easier than trying to remember to empty the water every few days. I never had a problem with a musty smell and tools don't rust but the humidifier runs almost constantly. My basement is about three times the size of yours. A dehumidifier works pretty well, but as others have mentioned, you may want to wait until the concrete is fully cured before you put any coins down there.

VTCoins

Thank you for the advice from everyone.

bushmaster8

Consumer Reports always rates the Sears Kenmore dehumidifier at the top of the list.

bushmaster8

BTW- a dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an air conditioner, except that it does not transfer heat to the outdoors. So, they use lots of electricity.

anablep

Use dry-lock paint to seal the floor after its cured. The cement will no longer be as porous.

Good luck.

StuckOnSilver

<< <i>BTW- a dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an air conditioner, except that it does not transfer heat to the outdoors. So, they use lots of electricity. >>




they don't run constantly, it's not the big deal everyone is making it out to be. are the walls still dirt and you just poured a cement floor?


with a dehumidifier, you can set the exact humidity you want the basement at. growing up, my dad stored all kinds of crap in our basement. the only time anything go ruined was when the basement flooded (something else to consider).

291fifth

Don't store coins or paper in the basement.

VTCoins

The foundation on my house is part brick and part stone.

It is a dry basement, so my guess is that the dehumidifier would not run 24/7.

FarmerBill

I've got a little I can add to this thread. My house was built in the 50's and has a 10x15 bomb shelter that is 14 inches of concrete on all sides and about 6 feet underground. Sizing is very important on dehumidifiers. I could not find a stand alone unit small enough to do the job. What would happen is the compressor would cycle on and off continuously and soon fail. I bought 2 whirlpool units from Lowes and they did not last 2 weeks each. Whirlpool replaced one under warrantee and it lasted about 3 days. After that I was tired of messing with Whirlpool and Lowes. I bought a Comfortaire from Ace Hardware that worked a little better but it was still cycling way to much and I knew it was only a matter of time before it burnt up. (By the way customer service at comfortaire is not very good as I e-mailed them three times and sent one letter asking them for suggestions about my problem and received no response). Anyway there are some key functions you need to look for in a dehumidifier. 1) The ability to work in a cold room without icing up..... I found that even the low temp models do not work very well below about 55 degrees. so I added one of those stand alone electric, oil, radiator type heaters to keep the temp about 62. That solved the cold problem. 2) Pick a unit that has BOTH the ability to restart after a power failure and a continuos run setting. Here is the only way I could get my humidity stabilized. I have a timer (like the ones used for Christmas tree lights) that plugs into an AC outlet then the dehumidifier plugs into it. I started with the dehumidifier running 2 hours at a time 3 times a day. After some fine tuning I now have it running about 90 minutes 3 times a day and my humidity is a constant 40-45%. This setup will work only on dehumidifiers that have auto restart and continuous run. It was a lot of messing around but I have lots of warm, dry ,atom bomb proof storage now.

carl

You know something. I never even thought of what brand mine was until you brought it up. I ran downstairs and looked and there is no brand name on mine. It is about 2' high, 1' wide, 1 1/2' deep and just as noted by RGT, I added a hose that runs to a floor drain. I've had the same one for about 20 or so years now. My basement is about 35 feet long and about 20 feet wide. Since I seldom leave doors and windows open, my dehumidifier dose not run all the time. My basement seldom attains more than about 25% humidity. This is not for the coins, it's for me. In the Summer it dose run a little more than in the winter though but never what you would call constant. I live in an area where the humidity in the summer is usually about 60 to what feels like 150%. My house is centrally A/C'd though so not much humidity gets in. All storm doors and windows are in place 24/7 all year long. As for fresh air, I have my A/C unit hooked up with outside movable open, shut dampers prior to the expansion coils. This means outside air can be pulled in at a regulated amount and also cleaned and dehumidified. If you have a hygrometer to measure the humidity and it indicates over 30% in your basement, get the coins out of there.
One more thing to remeber about concrete is the longer it cures, the stronger it becomes. So if you intensionally rush the drying process, you will not get the strongest possible results leading to possible later on cracking. Also, note that concrete will as already noted still in the future absorb moisture from the air and especially from the outside ground. If you live in an area where the ground level of water (the water table) is substancially higher than the bottom of your basement, you will accrue additional moisture for ever. One additional note is to possibly tile the floor with moisture resistant tiles but again wait until cured substantially.
I suggest you contact the concrete contractor for his estimate on the complete drying time required for your floor. Note that this can not be an item that is of general nature since most concrete mixtures are slightly different. Sand, aggregates and even the water used for the mixtures are different in different areas of the country. Also, local codes may require different mistures.
Opps we were talking about coins. Forgot.

VTCoins

Thanks for the info.

DIMEMAN

I would NOT store any coins in the basement period! And if you don't keep your house air conditioned DO NOT store them in you house. Put them in a bank that does.

Humidity IS THE # 1 killer of coins!!!!!!


Jon

gyocomgd

I have a portable one by Maytag that sucks up humidity like there's no tomorrow. It's a must for basements in humid climates.

max911

Here is one that I can recommend. I use it in the poolhouse during the winter and it does a good job.

Santa Fe

Coxe

Cement is a solid/water mixture. Yes, it hardens enough to walk on in a reasonable amount of time. It still has a lot of water in it, which it will release continuously for years. If the guys who poured your cement put a vapor barrier (like plastic sheeting) under the rebar, that compounds the problem dramatically -- slowing down the curing and making the resident water escape exclusively up into the house. Without that barrier, it will go both ways, but it will also, forever be a porous conduit for ground water to seep up into house. Suterranean foundation block or poured walls also do this. Basements are commonly damp generally for these reasons. A lot of basements have cement floors, the foundation slabs of those houses. Pouring one in an existing house makes me wonder if that woud introduce problems: molds, termite attraction, ... Nonetheless, I can think of few worse places to store coins. Good luck though.