How to keep concrete walls dry and outlets?

Question

WE ARE SICK OF THIS HOUSE. HELP, HELP.
Concrete molded home with steel i beems thoughout.
Concrete floors.HOT in the summer....COLD in the winter.

Problem: Winter time
The water builds up on the outter walls...condensation yes. And lots of it. The house is all open space, so gets lots of air flow.
We have painted the walls.

We have bought a $300.00 dehumidifier, fans, wipe walls down daily with towels. That helps to a certain extent. We use them for hours to dry one area at a time.

The water runs down the walls into GFI outlets and burns them out constantly. Always replacing them, can not caulk wet walls.

The water also causes mold.....we bleach the walls down with a special stuff from the store 2 times or more a month. It still comes back.

Walls are dry in the spring and summer. But still molds.

We do not have the money to seal the walls up. Can anyone give any other advice for us to try? We are trying to move, but it's not happening yet.

Answer 1

I think you have a 2-fold issue... the moisture is most probably coming from the air that is leaking into the house from outside and condensing. I am not sure what kind of heat you have but electric heat is the dryest you will find; next to an open fire. If you can, seal/caulk all the windows shut by using a peel off caulk. Every crack all around the window. You gotta stop the air leaks. You need to do the same around every draft you can find by using expanding foam, let it dry and cut off the excess. Paint it if you like afterwards (with primer and latex). Run your dehumidifier non-stop after you seal what you can find and it should dry the place fairly quickly. The concrete is probably saturated with moisture as well causing the growth of mold year-round. You need to seal the outside and the inside once it's dried out. To keep it drier in the summer; A/C is the best bet.
The ultimate solution is to frame, insulate, vapour barrier and then drywall the entire interior... lots of bucks though.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

WOW! you have a problem.

First, if you move you make take a big loss on the house unless you don't reveal these issues and that would be unethical, so you may be better off taking care of the problem(s).

You need to analyze the probelm a little better - Exactly where is the moisture coming from? is is condensation coming from human activity on the inside or is it exterior moisture migrating thru the concrete from the outside.

Is the house so tight that it doesn't provide a change of air and therefore you have an excess of moisture from your breathing and... well... being a human?

Or... if the moisture is coming thru the concrete walls, they absolutely need to be sealed. Chem-crete has a product that is called SOFIX 700 that can handle your problem and continue to provide protection.

First things first though - Have your HVAC system (Heating, Ventilating and Cooling) checked for proper operation AND design.

Best of luck to you

Answer 3

i am assuming you live in the U S A I'm in the UK .but the problems are worldwide ..the problem is warm air and cold walls this can cause water to stream down the walls .. in the UK we can buy plaster boards with insulation built into the back ..we call these thermal boards .and these are stuck to the walls with a water based adhesive ..mixed in a bucket ..when fixed and dry these prevent condensation ...then you tape the joints and decorate ...very important to cover every bit of walls do not leave any gaps .make sure the insulation is at least 35 mm thick on back of boards .i am sure you can get it in U S A as i used it when working in CANADA

Answer 4

the float must have stuck on the pump check for something caught in it shaking the pvc pipe will sometimes work there should be more then the one inlet to your pump crock one will be lower then the other that is where the water is entering as far as the eater on your wall inspect the line going out your wall see if its blocked or broke maybe some ice came off your roof and broke it so the water is not pumping completely out of the basement