Why is the basement often checked for moisture?

Every day, homes and businesses experience water damage in some form. Whether it's a catastrophic flood, a leak from a burst or leaking pipe, or a leak in a building's structure, it can allow water to enter a building.

If left unchecked, excess moisture can cause serious damage, leading to mold growth or weakening of structural materials.

It is especially important to regularly check the moisture in your basement.

Why? Some reasons include:

1: Water tends to run to the lowest available "ground"

It's a simple scientific fact that water will follow the path of least resistance until it is no longer moving. As the lowest point of the building, the basement is the ultimate destination for water. While pools in basements are more common (and immediately obvious) after a major flood event, water from leaking pipes between walls in a structure can also collect in basements.

2: The basement often suffers from "blindness, loss of sanity"

The main areas of residential and office buildings are frequented by many building occupants - so any obvious signs of water damage are usually spotted quickly.

However, basements of homes and offices are less likely to see daily foot traffic. So it might be longer before someone finds the problem. Regular basement inspections—especially after flooding, severe weather events, or burst pipes in buildings—can't be overemphasized to find excess moisture quickly enough to prevent permanent damage.

3: Just because the floodwaters have receded doesn't mean the basement is cleared

If the water recedes after a major flood event, it doesn't mean that all the excess moisture will be lost from the structure. Moisture can be absorbed by many different materials in the basement - providing fertile soil for mold growth or pest nesting for weeks after the floodwaters "gone away."

After any major flood event, it is necessary to test the moisture content of various materials in the basement.

How to Test Your Basement for Moisture

There are a few things home and business owners can do to test for the presence of excess moisture in basements.

A quick check is to test the basement's relative humidity (RH) conditions with a thermo-hygrometer. Higher relative humidity levels may indicate dampened material and the need for further testing.

A Moisture Meter is another useful tool for detecting moisture in your basement. There are two types of hygrometers you can use: pin and pinless meters.

1) The needle type uses the principle of resistance to measure the moisture content of various materials between two electrodes. Since water is a conductor, the more water present, the lower the resistance (and vice versa).

2) Needleless gauges use electromagnetic radio frequency waves to scan an area and use distortions in the waveform to measure the amount of water in the material being tested.

Pinless gauges are popular because they are easy to use and allow readings to be taken over a larger area than pin gauges, which speeds up the testing process. However, pinless gauges require a flat, solid surface to work properly. Therefore, pin Moisture Meters are often used to test softer materials or materials with curved, uneven surfaces.

Some people use both types of hygrometers, or special 2-in-1 devices that combine the functions of pin and pinless gauges in one device.