Random advice

[windelina]

Okay - the basement smells musty.
Should we get a dehumidifier or an air purifier?

Also, there is a lightpost in the front yard (quite cute). But it does not work. I cannot find a switch for it. I have put a new bulb in it.
Any idea on what I need to do to make it shiny lighty?

Comments

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

A dehumidifier and a deoderizer would both be good as well as scrubbing all floors, walls and corners with a bleach solution followed by burning a few sticks of your favorite incense...

At least that's what I'd do...

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

[vaxjo.livejournal.com]

dehum for the basement, definitely. Removing the moisture will help slow the growth of whatever mold & mildew is down there.

If there is no obvious switch for the light then my guess is that some previous owner removed the switch perhaps because it did not work. Is there a blank wall panel somewhere near the front of the house? Perhaps a double or triple switch plate with one switch missing? You'd probably have to trace the line going from the lightpost back into the house to figure out where it goes.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Electrical contacts for stuff that's outside might get gunky or rusty, too, that might be an easy solution. You might be able to see if that's the case by just looking where the bulb conects- if it looks icky, I just got a can of contact cleaner you can borrow, or if you can get into it, you might be able to lightly take a green scrubby to it and clean it that way.

[toadnae.livejournal.com]

Dehumidifier -- those bags of stuff to hang up to "deodorize" your basement actually do work as well. Depending on what your basement looks like, I'd probably just get a dehumidifier with a humidistat and set it near the floor drain, with a hose running into the floor drain. That's what we had to do in Ames. Then, the dehumidifier runs if it needs to, and you don't have to pay any attention to it.

[dangerdhotrod.livejournal.com]

i moved into a basement room of a house last november and this summer it started getting musty. i got a humidifier and it's totally fine now.

Hip and Domestic

[kurai-tsuki.livejournal.com]

There is an LJ community called Hip Domestics and they can help with all sorts of these questions. I have found them invaluable in several areas. Just thought I would share the wealth.



KT

[magicmarmot.livejournal.com]

Dehumidifier, certainly. I don't think you need an air purifier as much as as a deodorizer, and I would definitely do the bleach thing.