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digger1
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:08 pm Post subject: Question about drying up a basement |
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I have a couple of those reflector dishes the you put light bulbs into. I can get those 100 watt halogen heating bulbs that I could plug into the reflector dishes and hang the dishes from the rafters down there in certain places not the least of which where the water is coming in. Would the radiant heat of the bulbs be enough to dry up the concrete floor?
Maybe if I attached the dishes to an oscillating fan just to give the lamps better coverage... |
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BadMachine
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jan 01, 2009
Posts: 139
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:29 am Post subject: |
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| 1st of all maybe cure the cause, where is the water coming from?. |
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ImTheGuyThatDidThat
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Joined: May 21, 2008
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:11 am Post subject: |
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Yes, but it would be much more effective
to use a de-humidifier to collect the water
and get it out (if thats a word), i have one
and used it in my basement when i fixed it,
worked great. If your basementwall is poorly
isolated on the outside you will get some seap
through over time, water comes through the
concrete - i had to dig up half the basementwalls
on the house and put on new isolation due to that
problem. Radiant heat will evaporate the water
and you will get moist hot air, thats not good
unless you have great aircircualtion and air it
out well. You write "where the water is comming
in", if you have a obvious leak somewhere, fix
that before cleaning up or drying anything.
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digger1
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:39 am Post subject: |
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no no no no.
I don't own the house, I'm not gonna spend hundreds of dollars on stuff. I'll leave that for the landlord. He can fix the leaks and get the dehumidifier and all that noise. |
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ImTheGuyThatDidThat
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Joined: May 21, 2008
Posts: 8603
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:51 am Post subject: |
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Oh, you`re renting - then its the landlords job
i would think and the problem should be brought
to her/his attention - a waterleak is one of those
things most landlords would like to get fixed asap |
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digger1
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:00 am Post subject: |
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a wet basement's not unheard of especially in older houses when the foundation cracks and stuff.
back to the heating bulbs...
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ImTheGuyThatDidThat
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Posts: 8603
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:01 am Post subject: |
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Yes i think they will dry it up, the only
thing that worries me is the moist air
thats gonna be floating around, have
to get that outside with some ventilation.
Also, a simple fan might dry it up nicely
by blowing on it if its not alot of water
but just a little wet
""a wet basement's not unheard of especially in older houses when the foundation cracks and stuff""
You`re right, thats very common - the foundation often cracks
because its not properly isolated on the outside and water
seaps in over time, and then more water is allowed to come
in - its a real hassel |
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BadMachine
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jan 01, 2009
Posts: 139
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:14 am Post subject: |
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mmm high water table may be?, providing power to dry it out is going to cost.
As above, see if natural through flow of air helps things. |
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digger1
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:30 am Post subject: |
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Force is strong, in this one is.
It's pretty cold down there, maybe in the low 50's. We have an oscillating fan down there but it doesn't even touch the water on the concrete floor. If we had a forced air heater, that would help but the sump pump is prone to kicking out from overheating because it works all the time from the constant water coming in so we're afraid that there would be an electrical short and we don't exactly trust the GFIs in the house being as old as it is.
We have the fan up on an elevated surface with the plug/outlet up on the ceiling. |
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ImTheGuyThatDidThat
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:03 am Post subject: |
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A related problem i had a while back, the basement
walls on one side of the house were getting wet on
the inside, too wet for comfort - but i didnt understand
where the hell all this water came from
Then one day it start to rain really hard and by quincidence
i notice that theres a hole in the ground next to the drain
pipe and water is gushing out of it 
Turns out the drainpipe was clogged 7-8 feet under ground,
it was dug down along side of the foundation and it had cracked,
so all the water just gathered in a pool underground next
to the foundation
 horrible, horrible job to fix - put down a new pipe and
put it away from the house, alot of digging. I`ve learned
one thing the hard way, theres little use in drying up a
leak if one doesn`t stop the leak - alot of wasted time
Last edited by ImTheGuyThatDidThat on Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:09 am; edited 1 time in total |
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BadMachine
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Posts: 139
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:05 am Post subject: |
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getiig he details here in kinda dribs and drabs digger1.
if you have a sump pump, that's been fitted to deal with a reasonable amount of water entering on a regular basis.
if it's cutting out i don't think raising the basement temp' is going to solve the prob' unless you were using an industrial space heater.
get your landlord to check the pump/wiring is up to the job. |
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digger1
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:56 am Post subject: |
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| the sump pump is working fine. It's just that it works non-stop because the flow if the incoming water is that of the outgoing water expelled by the sump. Once in a while, the sump overheats and needs a half hour unplugged to rest. After that, you just plug it back in and it's good to go for another month or so. |
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BadMachine
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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where do you live, bottom of a hill, middle of a stream!!!!
is it clean water ie not sewage.
if its constant and flow does not fluctuate with wet/dry weather maybe it is a leaking main.
what do the local geologicalsurvey map say the ground type is. |
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digger1
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| It's melting snow and I'm fairly certain there's an aquifer nearby. When it's dry out, the basement's dry. Very later winter/early spring, forget about it.You have what we had the other day; a foot of standing water down there. |
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spudnik
one year older, and not much wiser
Joined: Feb 20, 2008
Posts: 4176
Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| digger1 wrote: | a wet basement's not unheard of especially in older houses when the foundation cracks and stuff.
back to the heating bulbs...
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Sounds like you want a grow op, with that system your describing. |
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