The not-so-dry basement workshop

[Lance]

I'm starting to pull together a workshop in my basement, starting of course with an old bt3k. One of the conserns I have is that since it is a 100 yr old house with a high water table and dry-packed fieldstone foundation, the humidity level is in constant fluctuation, and is often quite high.

I am running a DH (65 pints) which helps a little. However, I am a bit leery of storing anything other than scraps in this environment, not to mention tool oxidation issues. Any suggestions?

-Lance

[bmyers]

One problem in my moms 100+ year old house and wet basement was the gutters. Yup, the gutters. The run-off didn't get directed away from the house enough and ended up making basement very damp and slow to dry out. Among other things, you might want to check that one out.

Better indoor-to-outdoor air circulation might help too.

Just some thoughts.

Good luck!
Bill

[jziegler]

I will second the gutter comment. In my ~80 - 90 year old house, there were missing gutters when I moved in. The previous owner, a friend of my in laws, promised to install them. Lots od puddles in the rain, things like that. This spring, he finally gets the gutters up. Not a single water problem since then.

-Jim

[Richard Brimer]

I had a wet basement. I put in a sump pump, but I put it out side of the foundation. I dug down below basement floor, put a concrete slab on the bottom. Then put a flue tile up to ground level, filled with gravel. Put sump pump in. No more water.