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I have a one year old house in South Bend, IN and I am considering finishing out my basement to increase livable area and make it more attractive for resale. My concern is this: In Indiana the local building code requires the basements of new homes to be insulated and sheethed in a vapor barrier on the inside of basement. I thought this was great and got me that much closer to having the basement finished since it was studded and insulated all around the perimeter. It was the varpor barrier, though, that raised concerns for me. Over the course of the Summer during the more humid months, I noticed water vapor collecting on the back side of the clear plastic sheething. After several weeks of this the craft faced insulation started to mold. I called my contractor and all he did was come and open up the top of the plastic to let it breath some. I’m not sure if it was that or that the season’s were changing to drier conditions, but the problem corrected its self and things are all dry now (Jan.)So is this just a first year problem as the new foundation gives off its last bit of curing moisture or will this happen every year and would drywalling over this just trap mold behind my walls each Summer? Would leaving the top of the walls down there open to breath do the trick? Does anyone out there have experience with this?
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What Fred suggests is an "inward-drying" basement wall, the opposite of the way above-grade cold-climate walls are usually done. You're sharp to have understood this problem before it became a BIG problem -- unlike the contractor, whom I wouldn't hire to do the basement! (Hey everyone, architect beats builder here.) Be very careful with the mold -- spores can make you throw up at the least, much more at the worst.
Read the archives on this subject, lots of good stuff. Be wary of moisture wicking up through the slab or rotting the sole plate, too.
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I have a one year old house in South Bend, IN and I am considering finishing out my basement to increase livable area and make it more attractive for resale. My concern is this: In Indiana the local building code requires the basements of new homes to be insulated and sheethed in a vapor barrier on the inside of basement. I thought this was great and got me that much closer to having the basement finished since it was studded and insulated all around the perimeter. It was the varpor barrier, though, that raised concerns for me. Over the course of the Summer during the more humid months, I noticed water vapor collecting on the back side of the clear plastic sheething. After several weeks of this the craft faced insulation started to mold. I called my contractor and all he did was come and open up the top of the plastic to let it breath some. I'm not sure if it was that or that the season's were changing to drier conditions, but the problem corrected its self and things are all dry now (Jan.)So is this just a first year problem as the new foundation gives off its last bit of curing moisture or will this happen every year and would drywalling over this just trap mold behind my walls each Summer? Would leaving the top of the walls down there open to breath do the trick? Does anyone out there have experience with this?