What’s the most effective way to eliminate a horrible musty smell from the basement?

This is on the minds of many homeowners, especially if they wish to remodel the basement into a liveable extra room. However, even if you don’t intend to do that, it’s very important not to ignore foul odors in the basement.

It has a lot to do with leaks, water intrusion, moisture, and even dangerous mold or bacterial problems. We’d like to offer some suggestions for repelling musty odors from your basement.

What Causes the Musty Smell in the Basement?

Believe it or not, this is somewhat of a foundation issue, because of the materials involved. You can get a bad odor from stone or cinder-block foundations. These are foundation materials found predominantly in older homes throughout Kansas City.

What do you do if you have a cinder block foundation and notice musty odors?

We recommend making sure you don’t have active water intrusion into the basement itself. That’s the primary way to prevent the problem. If it’s already an issue, you may have to bleach walls, repaint them, and perform other sanitary/cleaning measures to knock out the smell. It won’t hurt to light a few scented candles as well.

Humidifiers and Other Solutions to the Musty Smell in the Basement

Can you address this problem with a humidifier?

Generally, this doesn’t work with odors. You can only do so much to suction off a bad smell. You can only do so much to address this problem with 100-year-old stone foundations. It mainly boils down to painting walls and bleaching/scrubbing the floors the best you can.

Finally, if you finish a basement, assuming it’s waterproofed properly, the finishing process itself can often take care of the problem. That might require a bit more investment, but it definitely does the trick.

What Goes into Basement Waterproofing?

We’d like to explain why waterproofing plays such a prominent role in keeping your basement clean, protected, and structurally sound. We offer several effective basement waterproofing options that address a variety of serious problems, including odors.

• Interior Drain-Tile Systems – Here’s where we install new drains and connect them to effective sump pumps to drive water out and away from your home. This is our favorite way to limit the pace of water entering your basement.
• Soil Grading – Poor soil grading can leave you at the mercy of runoff water and the forces of gravity. We know how to renovate soil to make sure water goes the other direction.
• Exterior Waterproofing Membranes – Sometimes we can secure finished basements with an additional exterior membrane to control water flow (without breaking into the walls).

What are the benefits of implementing solutions like these?

They’re a terrific way to prevent future odor problems from mold/mildew, limit your exposure to leaks, decrease the chance of a basement flood, and avoid other hassles. Again, this is a quintessential part of any basement finishing project.

Hire Olson Foundation Repair for Effective Basement Waterproofing Measures

Most of the cosmetic solutions to bad basement smells involve simple DIY measures to at least mask or mitigate the problem. There are, however, many other serious problems, related to water intrusion, where you may benefit from our professional assistance.

Olson Foundation Repair offers several drainage and waterproofing solutions to help homeowners deal with basement problems. We may not be able to drive out every odor, but we can make sure those leaks, wall cracks, and bowing walls don’t continue to get worse. If you live anywhere in Kansas City, including places like Lenexa, Prairie Village, or Overland Park, we’re the ones to call if you suspect significant foundation troubles around your home.

Contact Olson Foundation Repair today to let us address any musty smell coming from your basement with effective waterproofing solutions.