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Quick question, hoping someone can help me here. I am getting a strange musty smell from a room in the basement that is underneath my stairs. I just noticed some water on the floor, it look like it came in from underneath the insulation. Then I press the vapour barrier on the insulation water squirts out the bottom, but I can't physically see any mould. If this infact s mould, how bad (health wise) can it be right now?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Btw, the house in only 2 months old.

we have the same sort of problem.

I think this has something to do with high heat and humidity on the outside of your wall and the cold drier air on the inside. condensation forms on the inside of the plastic vapour barrier, and the insulation gets wet, with water pooling at the bottom. we have had the same problem since we moved into our house last year. I am not sure what the solution is. someone told me that the fibre insulation with a vapour barrier should not be used below ground and that is why it is happening. we have recently bought a dehumidifier but I am not sure if this will help at all.

does anyone have ideas of what to do? will mold be a problem?

Hey hockeygal, I first had the condensation problem that you are describing, with the water pooling at the bottom in the corners. I called the Concierge back then and they told me that the black strap at the bottom of the insulation has to be firmly and tightly secured to the wall, and that I should use a dehumidifier. So I did, the dehumidifier has been running for about 2 full months now, it has fully dried the basement so that worked.

My issue is that I have a section that is closed off with low head room underneath my stairs, only one side of the wall has water seeping through, and the mustly smell is coming from that area only. I called the Concierge about 20mins ago, and he just inspected the area. He told me that the yellow insulation isn't biological and that mould can't grow there. He said that he doesn't think it is mould, he got the strong musty smell but didn't know where it was coming from. He ripped a section of the plastic off and said to let it dry out, and that I should check it tomorrow to see if the smell is gone. In any case he said that he will add it to my 30 day and have the trades fix/deal with it.

Conrad

Get a dehumidifier and let it run 24/7.
I get at least 2 buckets/day out of mine.
Floor is nice and dry and very little moisture in the insulation.

Hope this helps.

So I found out what the problem is. We had our sod laid recently, and water from the sprinkler has been leaking through the basement window. Apparently they didn't seal it properly and the water is coming in from between the frame and the concrete. The trades will be in tomorrow to fix the problem.

So 2 months ago it was condensation, now its a leak from the window, I don't want to know what will happen in another 2 months.

C

so remember how I had that leak, and the people told me that it was condesation and an improper seal of the windows....well they were wrong.
After yesterday's rainfall I had a puddle of water in the basement, but this time I ripped the insulation to see where it is really coming from.... take a look at this:

Water pooling under the window

Water starts from behind the insulation, far from the window.

Water is entering through a metal plug/bolt in the foundation.

Point of entry...metal plug is now getting rusted.

don't do anything. let mattamy fix it (or whoever your builder is)

we had a leak by a window and they came at LEAST 6 times to fix it... (could never find the actual leak) frustrating as all heck but, they fixed it eventually... haven't had a problem in the 5 years since

also had another crack but no water coming through, they came and fixed that as well (just put the stuff on it inside and out)

hmmm in retrospect, i might go back and put in a response to Paul Newman's poll on mattamy quality

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