Mysterious Basement Leak

MidTenn · 08-31-2008, 11:01 AM

I have a 2-story home with basement built in 1963. It has hardwood floors over a wooden-slat base. Underneath the floorboards there is some sort of vapor barrier visible in the basement.
The basement has a storage area that is divided from the rest of the basement by a wall and door. All of the plumbing is along one side of the house. Over the past month, I have noticed twice a puddle of water directly under the door jam to the storage area in the basement. At first I thought the dehumidifer had leaked and a puddle had run to a low area of the floor. Yesterday I noticed the puddle again and liquid dripping from above the storage room door jam. It had a greasy feel to it but was clean/clear. I slit the vapor barrier above this area and the liquid came out (probably about 8-12 oz in all). This area is not under a bathroom or kitchen and is in the middle of the basement area. The door is next to the stairwell wall (at foot of stairs), but their are not water pipes along this wall. It really has me puzzled. I have lived in this house for 7 years now (with multiple other problems!) but this is the first time this has happened. Any ideas?

gregzoll · 08-31-2008, 11:18 AM

Someone spilled something, and did not tell anyone.

ccarlisle · 08-31-2008, 12:41 PM

Question: you slit the vapour barrier...and that vapour barrier was on the basement ceiling? And you think the puddle on the floor came from there?

So, your basement is kept unheated or at least colder than the upstairs. Get a humidity reading from down there and also get the temperature down there, and at the same time get a humidity reading outside where you live and the temperature outside where you live. Can you do that?

And tell us where you live...

MidTenn · 08-31-2008, 02:49 PM

Sorry about the location--

I live just south of Nashville, TN. We do have a humidity problem in the area and have 2 dehumidifiers running in the basement (which are very rare in this area).

Because the puddle felt oily, I did not think it was just humidity and it has never happened before this past month.

Thanks for your help.

ccarlisle · 08-31-2008, 03:20 PM

Well, still not much to go on; but I find vapour barriers on the ceiling of your basement very strange...and up here, we know vapour barriers!

That may be months and months of humiditiy condensing on the cooler vapour barrier but that's a long shot without more info.