musty basement...help!

[GreenGranolaMama]

(NAK) We have not been living in our house vry long, it has a carpeted finished basement w/ no windows that open and the only door is in the kitchen. We have a dehumidifier running and I vacuumed but it still smells super musty! We don't really use the space, I only really go down there to do laundry but the smell drives me crazy! Advice?

[HeatherAtHome]

I would think about ripping up the carpet... that could be the source of the musty smell as it could be damp and not have a chance to dry out. Or maybe try cleaning it then have fans running and dehumidifier going to dry it out as quickly as possible.

It's possible the inside of the walls might be damp... is it worse after a big rain?

[lucyem]

I agree about the carpet. I would pull that out right away. Then see where you are at. But any dampness could easily stay in a carpet and mold.

[annekevdbroek]

You probably need a dehumidifer to run constantly. One can be set up near a floor drain so you don't have to worry about emptying the pan. The carpet may need to go, but I'd try a dehumidifer first.

[friend of mine]

Before you pull your carpet... My basement has been smelling musty for sometime. After several days of searching the basement and stairway for the source, I finally realized it might be the washing machine. This morning I ran an empty load with hot water and 2 cups of vinegar. During the cycle the musty smell was worse than ever, but by the time I got home from work this afternoon the smell was entirely gone.

I hope your smell is as simple a fix as mine was.

[chamomeleon]

Me Too!

I just logged on to research this very issue and see if anyone had any suggestions! Our basement smells yucky too, only it's unfinished with no carpet. We have lived in this house for 7 years and the smell seems to fluctuate - sometimes better, sometimes worse. Often it has to do with moisture, but sometimes it's a mystery. The house IS 60 years old, so I know it's never going to smell April fresh down there, but I would love to be able to mitigate it a little bit! We had a yard sale this weekend and I was down there for a couple of days last week hauling stuff out, moving stuff around and cleaning, and now the smell seems especially bad even though I didn't see any moisture anywhere. Maybe I just stirred up musty particles or something.

We do have a dehumidifier that runs straight into the sump drain, which we run when there's an obvious moisture issue. I'm going to try the washing machine trick and see if that could be the problem. Any other suggestions are welcome! Good luck, OP, I'll let you know if I hit on anything that works!