Around Your Home

My home office is in the basement. It’s a great space. About 700 square feet with workout area, den with couches and TV and a large desk with all my computer gear. CEO’s of large companies don’t have it so good.

The problem is the moisture. My basement is considered dry. Never had a water problem. It is below grade so reality is that there is moisture. I never really gave it a thought but my dehumidifier does fill up twice a month in winter and sometimes once a day during humid July.

I wonder about the moisture in the dehumidifier. If it wasn’t in the dehumidifier would it be on my carpet? What would the carpet be like if I sprayed the water onto the floor? What happened to the moisture that the dehumidifier didn’t collect?

Even if you have new construction with a moisture vapor barrier, a French drain around the house and the ultimate gutter system eventually you will get some moisture. And moisture creates mold.

So what’s so bad about mold? Can’t see it and can’t see the air you breath, so what? On to the next thing, out of sight, out of mind.

I’m not an expert but I did a little research on the subject of mold.. Mold spores are small. Hundreds of thousands can fit on the head of a pin. They can slip by our immune defense systems and into our lungs. Once in the lungs they can get in our bloodstream and oxygen. They can permanently scar lung tissue. Symptoms can be fatigue, headaches, colds, dizziness, shortness of breath and on and on.

I’m healthy but I can feel it after a day in my basement office.

One solution is carpeting basement floors with area rugs. If you apply concrete stains or sealed decorative concrete floor coatings you will be able to restrict mold. Sealed concrete is easy to clean and prevents mold buildup.

The area rugs will help keep the basement warm and can be rolled up and sent to the cleaner or removed and replaced. A suggestion is to avoid putting furniture on the area rugs. The easier it is to roll them up the more frequently you’ll have them cleaned.

Wall to wall carpeting is nice but once you have furniture down you’ll never replace it. Wall to wall is nice to walk on but frequently is glued down. Tack strips along the edges are hammered into the concrete. When removed they make holes in the concrete that needs to be patched. Carpet glue removal from cement floors is not fun.

Do yourself a favor. Rather than just moving ahead with carpeting basement floors in your home like I did with wall to wall carpet put down a decorative concrete coating then area rugs. You’ll be a lot healthier for it and you’ll use your basement more frequently.