Pro tip: Compared two basement waterproofing methods on a 100-year-old house in Cleveland

I followed one crew using interior drainage channels and another using exterior excavation on the same street, and the exterior fix has held up through three heavy rain seasons while the interior one already has a musty smell - has anyone else seen that big a difference between the two approaches?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_grant2d agoRising Star

Wait so the interior fix already smells musty after only three seasons? That's wild to me honestly because a lot of the waterproofing companies around here push interior drains as the modern solution (you know, the ones with the fancy warranties). I always figured exterior excavation was the nuclear option but hearing about the smell difference makes me think the interior stuff is just a bandaid on a bullet wound. Did the interior crew cut any corners with the vapor barrier or something? Seems like that musty smell is basically mold starting to throw a party in your walls.

simon_carr2d ago

Man I feel you on this one. Three seasons and it's already musty? That's rough. My buddy had a similar interior drain system put in his basement in Ohio and by the second spring you could smell it every time the humidity spiked. The companies selling those systems really downplay how much moisture wicks up through the concrete even with a good vapor barrier. In my experience the interior drains are basically just giving the water a path out but they don't stop the dampness from settling into the walls and floor. It sounds like the crew might have skimped on the seam sealing or used a thinner vapor barrier than what's recommended. Either way you're right that musty smell is practically an invitation for mold to set up shop.

williamw751d ago

Are they really running a dehumidifier down there 24/7? That smell usually means moisture is getting in somewhere it shouldn't be.