My basement is wet, can I use lime to help it dry?

Madeline Vryhof
by Madeline Vryhof

My house was built in the late 1800's, the wall was leaking and we had it fixed. The floor is part dirt and am area is cement. I need to dry up the dirt!

  5 answers
  • Rowgop (Pam) Rowgop (Pam) on Aug 03, 2018

    Madeline yes lime will help dry up your basement some and also here's a link with a few different ways to help you with your basement leak https://www.familyhandyman.com/basement/tips-for-drying-up-and-finishing-your-basement/view-all/

  • Dwp7470b Dwp7470b on Aug 03, 2018

    Rather than use lime only, as limestone is a primary ingredient in cement and concrete, you are better off to:


    A. Dig out much of the dirt floor, 3 to 9 inches.

    B. Call a plumber to Secure a Drain to your sewage pipe, in the area of the moisture.

    C. Pour a few slabs of cement or concrete.

    D. Get a dehumidifier

    E. Buy Dehumidifying salts at Dollar Tree, and replace them regularly.


    • Madeline Vryhof Madeline Vryhof on Aug 03, 2018

      The basement is part dirt because we have stone walls. We also have very cold winters. That way it does not fracture whole floor. We had 2 walls replaced and next year will replace the other 2. The ones that were replaced needed lots of work because they were put in the way it is done now! Very expensive , so we did only two for now. By stone I mean just rocks from the river and grounds. It was built in 1895.

  • Erin Erin on Aug 03, 2018

    Dehumidifier?

  • Rose Marie Hamilton Rose Marie Hamilton on Aug 05, 2019

    Is there a special kind of lime for the basement or any kind will do

  • Shancel Shancel on Nov 06, 2019

    I would recommend to buy a dehumidifier (for the one room or for the whole house, what you wish). We have had the problem with wet basement so we've surfed the Internet to find the information about solving this issue. And we've read that dehumidifier can help us. We've bought it and now don't regret - this option helped us.