I live close to the water and there is a high water table around my house. Therefore a lot of water vapor passes through the basement walls. I would like to be able to store stuff in my basement and ideally finish it and not have to worry about mold.
There are a range of options I have been looking at. Such as sealing the basement walls and floor with water blocking adhesive compound such as Drylok, Thoroseal, Blue Max liquid rubber and Xypex Hi-Dry. I am not sure which product would provide the best seal and longest life span in my situation?
I currently have a small dehumidifier in my basement that runs constantly. I don't want to get a bigger unit as this small one is already a big hog on my utility bill. I was thinking of getting an air exchanger that would bring in Fresh air as well as remove humidity and be less costly to run then a dehumidifier. Does anyone have any experience using these to remove humidity from a basement? I found this company EZ Breathe but it looks like they are only installed by professionals.
Putting up a vapor barrier such as 6mm polysheathing on over the concrete worries me a little. I would imagine the water would condense on the sheathing and build up between it and the foundation. I also hear that you are supposed to put the vapor barrier infront of any insulation but that doesn't make sense to me since you are going to have the water building up behind the vapor barrier.
Putting in French Drains inside or outside is a little to expensive for me right now so that isn't an option.