Learned about vapor barriers the hard way in my basement

I was finishing my basement in Columbus last fall and skipped the vapor barrier on the interior walls. Three months later I peeled back the drywall and found mold growing behind it. Has anyone else dealt with moisture issues in a below-grade space?

2 comments

2 Comments

linda50019d ago

Oh man, that's rough... finding mold is the worst surprise ever. I did something similar in my old house in Cincinnati a few years back. Finished the basement on the cheap and thought I could get away with skipping the barrier on the exterior walls. Six months later I had that same nasty surprise behind the paneling. It's just such a hassle to tear everything out and start over. The moisture just creeps through the concrete no matter what you do down there. Really feel for you having to deal with that cleanup and redo...

richard_dixon19d ago

@linda500 hit it right about moisture just creeping through no matter what. But here's something nobody else brought up - check your exterior grading and downspouts first before even thinking about vapor barriers again. I spent two years fighting a damp basement in my last house, even had a barrier put in, and still had issues. Turned out my gutters were dumping water right next to the foundation and the ground was sloping toward the house. Fixed the grading and moved the downspouts way out, and the moisture problems dropped by like 80%. The vapor barrier matters for sure, but it's just a band-aid if the water is literally being funneled into your walls from outside.