Crawl Space and Basement Dehumidifiers in Washington

Just because you have a waterproofing system, doesn't necessarily mean you have a dry space. There are three ways you may still get dampness, even after you have installed a waterproofing system in your Bellingham, Oak Harbor, Burlington or Mount Vernon, WA home: 

• Capillary action, meaning wicking, can bring in moisture. For example: A block wall may not leak, but it feels damp because it's wicking the water inside it to the surface like a sponge.


• Water vapor coming through your walls and floor also needs to be addressed. By installing a basement wall system and ThermalDry Floor Matting, we don't have to worry about wicking and have slowed water vapor transmission down considerably.


• Water also gets into your basement from exterior air leaking into your basement. This is not a problem as long as the outside air is cooler than the inside, but warmer summertime air moves lots of water into a basement.

When the outside air is warmer than the inside air -  especially when it's humid, outside air - we are likely to have a condensation problem in our basements and crawl spaces. This is because the Relative Humidity goes up 2.2% for every one-degree you cool it. Basements are always cool because they are below ground. And we know that a house is like a chimney - air flows upwards, with new air being sucked in at the lower levels.

So when it's hot and humid in the summer, rain or no rain, the basement may be the wettest it has been all year!

If it's an 80-degree day with Relative Humidity of 80%, and we suck this air into our basements and cool it to 68 degrees, the Relative Humidity goes up by 26.4% (12 degrees x 2.2%). But wait a minute... 80% plus 26.4% is more than 100%, and we can't have more than 100%. So instead, as the air becomes saturated it gives up its moisture on your cold basement walls, floor, water tank, pipes and other cold things. This is called condensation.

Even without condensation, we still get high relative humidity levels, which allows mold to grow and cause that musty basement smell.  Dust mites and other parasites and bugs love high relative humidity levels as well!

Not Just Any Dehumidifier in Washington

In order to eliminate condensation, you need to either heat the air (ridiculous in summer), or take water out of it (easy to do). Correction.   Take water out of it efficiently and effectively (not so easy unless you have the right equipment to get the job done).

A dehumidifier is the plain answer. But not just any dehumidifier : Basement Systems has been dealing with this issue intensely for nearly 20 years. The only machine that Rainy Day Basement Systems uses to get these results is the SaniDry Basement Air System. And it's awesome!

To receive a FREE copy of "Dry Basement Science," which talks in detail about dehumidification, relative humidity, and the SaniDry Basement and Crawl Space Air Systems, just schedule your FREE home inspection and estimate, and we'll send the book to you.

To read more about moisture control, visit the SaniDry website.

Rainy Day Basement Systems proudly serves the Northwestern Washington area that includes: Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom counties. The cities and towns we serve include Anacortes, Arlington, Bellingham, Bothell, Edmonds, Darrington, Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mount Vernon, Mountlake Terrace, Oak Harbor, Richmond Highlands, Samish, Shoreline, Sudden Valley, Tulalip, and many areas nearby.