I have a cement porch in the front of my house. In the basement, the previous owner had a weird unfinished room under the porch. Its damp and moldy smelling all year round.
Im at a loss as to what to do with it. Should I just leave it be? or will the mold get worse and worse and eventually spread?
Yes the mold will get worse, the condensation on the metal ceiling is a problem. Black mold is tough to get rid of if it gets inside the walls.
Call 3 different pros and get quotes, they might tell you 3 different remedies.
Pick the best and either pay them to do it or DIY what they proposed.
10/10 cozy
Big picture, you're looking at vapor mitigation.
AKA chuck enough shit and layers to funnel the water outside.
Simple as.
That is the porch from the outside. Obviously most of it is under ground.
This pic is the entrance to the storage area from the basement. It has a weather stripped door and you cant smell the mold unless you open the door.
Drill a hole into the side and let air circulate
use it as an incubation chamber for a hybrid race of mold people.
are you canadian? I've heard of these before referred to as cold rooms. There is supposed to be active ventilation to prevent the moisture buildup.
a cold room doesn't have insulated walls
A cold room doesn't but your mold room does
Drill some vents to allow air to circulate.
There's probably stagnant water in that "ceiling". At the very least moisture.
Could be coming up through the concrete.
Paint the concrete. And test for radon. Just paint the whole area while you are at it. Something strong
Put a dehumidifier in there and pump the condensate out to water an area of grass or some plants. Get the humidity/condensation under control and that would make a sick walk in gun safe if you put a safe door on it.
OP here Im guessing I need to do something like pic related on at least 2 sides of the concrete?
Or are there more "modern" or advanced vents now days?
Look for pest proof vents since they will be close to ground level.
>what this guy said
just google "crawl space vent"
i think you could get away with a couple PVC pipe vents to make a cross breeze, but it seems vent covers for smaller pipe sizes may need to be custom made (by you to keep it cheap).
hang a bunch of desiccant packets