What Is That White Powder In My Basement?
What Is That White Powder In My Basement? Overview Well, let me guess. Your basement also has a musty smell hanging around it all the time, feels a bit damp and maybe the walls are discolored too? If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, let me first tell you that your basement has a water problem. Secondly, that white powder on your basement walls and floor is called ‘lime’. We’ll get to what that means in a second. What Is This ‘Lime’? Lime is the bonding agent in concrete. When concrete gets wet, and then dries out, lime leaches out of it. This process is called efflorescence. As you might have guessed already, long-term efflorescence weakens concrete and makes it more prone to crumbling. If left unchecked, this can lead to structural integrity issues, such as concrete block shifting out of place, or mortar joint rotting to the point of the wall ‘moving’. Why Is This Happening? This is happening because most probably your basement is le...