Why are Basements Humid?
Concrete basements are unique spaces in the home. Unlike the floors upstairs, they have fewer windows, more utilities present and, often, lower ceilings. Most notably, however, is that basements are unique from the rest of the home because they’re located underground and surrounded by concrete. This leads to two unfortunate facts: • The soil around your concrete foundation stores moisture. When your home was built, a large space was excavated from the ground to create room for your home’s foundation. The soil that was excavated was hard-packed, untouched virgin soil. After the concrete foundation was poured, extra space is left between the earth and the concrete foundation. This space is backfilled in with a portion of the excavated soil. However, this soil is lighter and more fluffed than the hard-packed soil around it will ever be. As a result, it’s also more absorbent of water. If it rains, this means that more water will build up against the home’s foundation than anywhere else- es
