Basement Dwellers Beware......! Humidty is Back.


Greg@mnrr

Greg@mnrr

Section Hand
When down into the basement yesterday to try out a Digitrax throttle that was just returned from Digitrax after a repair job. The air in the basement and train room felt a little moist. I set up a train to run and it barely made it half way around when it derailed. A piece of ground foam was over hanging over the track and caused the derailment. Of course, the problem are was just out of reach, so I used a length of balsam wood to push the foam out of the way.

The foam felt a little soft. I used WS Scenic Cement to attach my scenery materials and I think the higher humidity in the air could of caused the ground foam to loosen.

I turned on the basement "sized" dehumidifier and the meter read 60% humidity, higher than the normal 45-50% range that is normal for the basement.

We have had some much above normal temperatures here and I guess I should have turned on the dehumidifier sooner. It's still to soon to turn on the Central Air which also helps keep the air drier.

Just wanted to let all Basement Dwellers to take the time to check their layout areas in the basement and run their dehumidifiers if necessary.

Greg
 
Greg - I am lucky up here in Montana because we usually have low humidity compared to other parts of the country. My layout is also in a basement and I have never had any humifity problems. I guess it all depends on where you live.
 
Wisconsin can have some really humid days with high temperatures and then I will retreat to the basement for relief and avoid the outdoors. We also have had a lot of rain during the late winter and spring that is part of the problem.

My wife loves to hand dry some select clothes in the basement. Some day the hangers will be MIA.

Greg
 
I also like to retreat to the train room when it gets hot outside. Nice and cool down there and as of right now, I have the whole basement to myself, but only really use the train room and the bathroom. It is nice living in a dryer climate. I have a cousin who visited from northern Indiana in the winter and she couldn't believe the difference that the humidity made. The temps were in the low teens and she said that she didn't feel as cold compared to temps in the 40's with winds coming off of Lake Michigan.
 
We have central hvac with a smart thermostat, so it's not a problem for me.

Nanner nanner. ;)

This signature is intended to irritate people.
 
Northern California is as humid as Oregon these days. But we don't have basements. The dank damp humidity in the townhouse garage has curtailed any air brush painting as there is no place to set up a spray booth in the house. The deck has suffered storms and wind and cannot reliably be used except for quick rattle can applications of Dulcote or my latest experiment with Model Masters "Lusterless (Flat)" which I suspect is the same product with a different name.

Maybe out summer will come and brighten our skies and outlook....Depressing, I grew up in Portland OR and live in California to escape the dark dank feeling.
 
Switchman:

At least rain has finally come to parts of California. My SIL has a summer home in La Jolla and she claims its getting more and more humid along with being warmer.

Greg
 
Interesting you mentioned the dehumidifier. In northern Illinois, we are in a similar environment as you in Wisconsin. I went downstairs to fire up the unit last week and after a day of running, I didn't notice any decrease in the humidity percentage. The unit was still under warranty. I called GE and returned the​ unit in a box provided by them including the FedEx​ label. Supposed to be a new unit on the way... We shall see. I do know that the basement is very humid right now!
Scott


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Yes, the humidity is climbing here in Central Minnesota, too. The Dehumidifier is on and I'm getting close to shutting the layout down for the summer, as we spend more time at the lake this time of year.
 
Since my heat is still coming on, the Humidity is not a problem, however, due to the spring rain raising the water table, a damp odor from the sump and french drain. I have a 70 pint dehumidifier that is enough to handle the dampness, although it has a tendency to frost when running at temperatures under 65° f. I also open windows on nice days. Once the AC is switched on, the issue goes away again until the fall. I use air fresheners and damp rid to supplement the dehumidifier. Jersey Summers are usually very humid because of the ocean.
 
My current layout is in a mainfloor room. With the low humidity in Colorado (we still have fire danger warnings on the eastern plains!), I don't have any problems, but never did when I had the layout in a basement room.
 
Do we really need to "Beware" of basement humidity? I think it's really just something we are all probably aware of. It's not like "Beware of Dog". However, maybe I am unaware of the "Model Railroad Humidity Hasslicher Mann" that chews up and spits out plastic detail parts just for spite!
 
NP2626 said:
Do we really need to "Beware" of basement humidity? I think it's really just something we are all probably aware of. It's not like "Beware of Dog". However, maybe I am unaware of the "Model Railroad Humidity Hasslicher Mann" that chews up and spits out plastic detail parts just for spite!
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It's not the plastic that's the problem. We used to have a basement that was almost unusable in the summer, and I had to keep all my exposed metal covered in Balistol.

This signature is intended to irritate people.
 
Basements are subject to the conditions in the soil that surrounds them. Also, if a basement rests on hard pan, or just above a water table, moisture will find a way in even if the weeping tiles/perimeter drainage manages to keep water from covering the pad at times. Unless the pad is sealed, and joints between pad and concrete walls are sealed, and the poly seal behind a finished wall is intact, moisture will be a problem for several months of the year. That is why, despite my living on the prairies or here on Vancouver Island, I keep a dehumidifier plugged in and on all the time. Often I go to check the reservoir and it's empty...just like two weeks ago. This means the appliance, while powered, is consuming just a few watts in the display and the humidistat. Then, I'll go two weeks later and see the red light on the display indicating the reservoir needs to be emptied! That's quite a change. As I scoop the reservoir out of its receptacle, I notice the display shows a room humidity of 68%, sometimes higher. The device is set for shutting down the compressor at 45%. It needn't be lower than that, but neither should it be nearly twice that at 80-90%.
 
I don't have to deal with basement issues, but the swings in humidity in Oklahoma are pretty insane. I have to run a humidifier all winter to prevent it getting down to the 20% or less it would go to on its own, and then a dehumidifier once the weather warms up to defeat the 80%. But in the end I manage to maintain ~50% humidity year round. At least the dehumidifier drains through the wall and outside so I don't have to constantly empty it, but it does get old to keep filling the humidifier during the winter.
 
being in fla, it goes without saying i have a garage layout ,but strangly enough its been low humidity
But come may i will b running the dehumidifier
 
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