Hey Y’all
Bought a new home in New England with a stone basement or a rubble basement, whatever you want to call it. The floor is concrete. The home is on a hill, and well above the water table, but it’s got a stump pump because stone basements can still weep if it’s wet enough, I believe. I know I’ll need to throw a dehumidifier in there and aim for 40%.
The home inspection didn’t turn up asbestos or anything like that, but I want to know if there are health hazards I should consider. Thinking about doing a radon test, are there any other tests I should do? Or items I should consider?
Concrete is porous as are mortar and bricks themselves I believe. Plus most basements are surrounded by a lot of earth so there is a lot of moisture to deal with. The dehumidifier will help bring the moisture down so that whatever gym equipment and whatever else is down there doesn’t start to rust/mold. I’ve never lived in a house with a basement like that so I can only assume.
To add to this: around 50% humidity is generally a good target to set for indoors.