Bought a new home with a stone basement. Thinking about throwing a small home gym down there, is there anything I should consider beforehand?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨MonkeyBusiness@lemmy.one⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Hey Y’all

Bought a new home in New England with a stone basement or a rubble basement, whatever you want to call it. The floor is concrete. The home is on a hill, and well above the water table, but it’s got a stump pump because stone basements can still weep if it’s wet enough, I believe. I know I’ll need to throw a dehumidifier in there and aim for 40%.

The home inspection didn’t turn up asbestos or anything like that, but I want to know if there are health hazards I should consider. Thinking about doing a radon test, are there any other tests I should do? Or items I should consider?

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fossilesque@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Absolutely do a radon test and at minimum get a CO2 detector.

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- SheeEttin@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  CO?
  
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  - fossilesque@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Sorry, yes. :) Fixed.
    
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- MonkeyBusiness@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Can I get away with just keeping a CO2 detector in the kitchen and bedrooms, or should there be one in the basement as well?
  
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  - fossilesque@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Ps, I know someone mentioned a monitor, get it professionally done as well. It can be fixed but you don’t want to mess around with it.
    
    epa.gov/…/epa-map-radon-zones-and-supplemental-in…
    
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TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
The ones I have been in were not 100% water tight. They seeped a bit after big rains. I would not put anything too valuable there until you know.

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falsem@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If you plan to deadlift then get something to protect the concrete. You don't have to lift THAT heavy to crack the concrete.

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infinitevalence@discuss.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I would suggest an air monitoring tool like Airthings: www.airthings.com/wave-plus

This will monitor not just Radon but other contaminants.

Installed, dehumidifier, not one with a bucket you have to dump is probably a must. That or one that you can drain into the sump-pump.

Lastly a 20" boxfan filter. thenourishinggourmet.com/diy-air-filter-using-box… Its easy, cheap, and very effective.

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- MonkeyBusiness@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Honestly that box fan filter seems like a bigger and cheaper HEPA filter, which I like. Definitely will look into the air monitor as I wanted a humidity monitor already.
  
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Spacebar@lemmy.world [bot] ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Dehumidifier so your weights don’t get nasty.

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MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I don’t have a stone basement, but it’s block, on a hill, with bare floor(rocks etc). We just fixed it all up with pump, membrane, dehumidifier etc. Get a good dehumidifier with an actual pump. Some say they have pumps, but they are super weak. Get a good one.

Before we fixed it up there was a decent bit of mold in the air. And things would collect dust then mold very quickly. So watch your stuff. Keep your nose open for mold.

Beyond that, every house is different. I wouldn’t have an issue doing what your trying to do. I’d probably just keep a door open when I was down there or something.

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onion@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Btw if your basement is moist, you can get a contractor to dig open the outside walls and seal them

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