Basement waterproofing

[theMeat]

Most have a hose attachment to put down a floor drain, commercial units have a built in pump

True. Yet need to drain all the same.
let’s look at it from tank standpoint. Let’s say the target temp for tank is 77-79 degrees and the room it’s in is 70. Let’s say for argument sake once you factor in heat from pumps and lights the tank runs at 76 degrees. At that point your heater doesn’t have much to do to get to that target 77-79 degrees. Now introduce the dehumidifier, which may not even be needed btw. Now that room that would be 70 degrees is 75-80, and now you need a chiller. Another factor is the warmer and/or dryer the room, the more evaporate you have. A dehumidifier also doesn’t introduce or offer any air exchange, where co2, or maybe even more damaging gasses like radon, especially in a basement, may be present.

 

[theMeat]

Since I was a service tech word of advice. Do not have a sales Person come to your home. Go to a local HVAC business, and talk to the owner smaller the better. I don't want to muddy the water any further but use some logic it goes way further. All the talk about balancing the air, and 70 % recovery rate is marketing hype. I have all the tools to perform that. It is like getting a hair cut. Good for that day in that application. Setting up furnaces, and an AC system is a different topic. Just go outside on a cold clear day. It is cold, and dry. Go outside on a cloudy cold day it is cold, and humid. So how can you balance an HRV or a ERV for changing weather conditions. I do agree you will get an air exchange. On the clear day your home will defiantly be dry. Any way good luck Just being a SD here I think theMeat is in sales lol

Not a salesman. The part you’re not understanding is an Hrv transfers the temp of the inside air to the incoming air with zero transfer of air mixing. This produces a drying effect. With Erv humidity is in the mix so you can increase humidity levels if desired. 70% is also not marketing hype. Just ask anyone who knows. For any reputable manufacturer it‘s 70-95% energy recovery respectfully. Will op need one, idk. Will their house be a more comfortable and healthy environment, absolutely. The start up cost will pay for itself with energy recovery in three years tops.

 

[theMeat]

Let’s put out there that if the humidity level is under 50% you likely won’t grow mold. Higher than that you should look for remedies

 

[theMeat]

 

[Jeeperz]

With all the replies and advice. I'm just going to bite the bullet and have a professional come and direct me to the best option between hrv or erv. I live in WV so I get humid summers and cold winters. So I can get a pro to help with that and explore options for ventilation.

I'd get multiple quotes, there are a lot of hvac companies that don't know what quality is. I work for one that is constantly fixing others mistakes. We don't even do new construction with a home value less than 1+ million, not worth our time as a small company. We do a lot of multi million dollar homes where systems cost $100k-200k+ we install a lot of erv depends on house design though

 

[VitaminD]

Lots of overthinking here. If you finish offthe basement or make a room with greenboard drywall and paint ( you can even go as far as using redguard moisture barrier roll on coating under the exterior grade paint , and use a dehumidifier set at 50% , you will be ok. Yes glass canopy over tank would be a big help. Salt will only travel as far as its projected/sprayed. So mix salt outside if you want to be careful. . Moisture in air contains no salt.

 

[AlexG]

Best to keep it simple when thinking about humidity control. The methods to keep proper humidity levels maintained will range in complexity depending on the aquarium system water volume, climate, and structure. I find that minimize, contain, mitigate is an easy way to think about humidity control. With several years of experience operating large aquarium systems 1000+ gallons in a home it has proven to be effective in maintaining proper humidity levels.

Minimize - Tank covers over sumps or tanks without reef lighting. Especially important with tanks overflow drain lines discharging and tanks with skimmer discharges as the cover will prevent salt spray from entering the room. This will also allow evaporation to condense inside the sump tank and re-enter the aquarium. (Covered tanks with reef lighting just account for PAR loss through the cover if you need one)

Contain - Tank tops complete this function but on larger scale systems containing humidity generated from evaporation becomes necessary. My preference is to contain humidity with a canopy and/or room. Moisture barriers on unprotected surfaces to prevent moisture from absorbing into the home. I am also prefer to utilize negative air pressure to keep the humidity contained into protected areas.

Mitigation - I have utilized a couple of different methods to mitigate. Exhaust fans with humidistats that run at a lower CFM as not to reverse air flow on a chimney help mitigate the humidity by venting it outside. De-humidifier once again can be utilized to mitigate the air directly and condense the moisture removed to a drain line. De-humidifiers must be properly scaled to perform properly. Both exhaust fans and dehumidifiers can be utilized to generate a slight negative air pressure for a fish room that is designed to contain humidity. The idea here is that most of the air in the fish room must go through mitigation before exiting the fish room with humidity containment.

With my current fish room setup (~2100 gallons) I have covers on all the sumps, canopies over the uncovered tanks, plastic on the ceiling for a moisture barrier, and a whole house de-humidifier ducted to pull air from the tanks with canopies and from the room to keep humidity levels in check. Eventually when my new display goes online that canopy and the entire fish room will also utilize negative air pressure as an additional containment step. I am also planning to add an HRV which is more for CO2 reduction but will also mitigate some humidity.

 

[theMeat]

We are currently engaged in a Basement Waterproofing project in which the water is not closing down in a house. It is entering through a space in the basement. Its been one month and the water is continuously seeping in. Will need assistance for it.

Interesting
Sounds like an underground stream or tide issues
Some details?
Any new construction locally?