deadtetra

That new wood is from a contractor who finished one half of our basement about 10 years ago. The house itself is circa mid 70's, and had a major renovation early 90's, long before we got it (we are discovering though the guys who renovated this place took a million shortcuts that we are paying the price for now though). @ Jim, we just had our roof redone and we are going to tackle the gutters next, so I will certainly keep your advice in mind while doing so, thanks a lot for the information!! And your explanation of efflorescence makes a lot of sense, thank you for clarifying that for me (I was thinking a lot of water causing this). And as far as damp hole in the ground basement, that's actually the perfect explanation for the unfinished portion (there are actually sections where dirt is exposed behind a block wall that only goes half way up). It's always damp in that section but is usually fairly dry in the finished portion (we run a dehumidifier fairly often).

In one area, yes we've had many problems with leaks and such... In other sections (i.e the wall on the complete opposite side of the basement) I don't recall a leak ever being where this stuff is appearing... And as far as recent or not it was the beginning of the summer we began noticing the stuff appear, and it's spread fairly quickly ever since. At this point I think I'm just going to clean it off and wait to see if it emerges again... Thanks a lot for your help!!!!!

Thanks for the info! I guess my next question then would be, should I be worried that efflorescence is showing up in so many places? The pics I posted is just a fraction of what is actually there, is it a sign of a problem I should resolve or is it perfectly natural?

Hello, I am hoping someone can shed some light on this stuff for me. I don't know what it is, or if I should be concerned about it... I have a basement, split into two sections by a block wall, one half finished, the other half not. On all of the outside walls, white fluffy stuff began appearing several months ago. Curios about it I researched on the internet and learned of efflorescence, and passed it off as such. Although recently I began discovering this stuff in places I wouldn't expect, according to what I've read on efflorescence, from what I gathered it only appears on block of brick. I am finding it on wood studs and rafters, and even on the concrete floor... Is it typical of efflorescence to appear on wood and concrete floors? If not what else could this stuff be? I am concerned although it hasn't appeared to be causing any adverse health effects on my family (although it hasn't been disturbed either). Or am I wrong about this being efflorescence at all? Could this be some kind of mold? One of the pics I attached actually shows the stuff on a wall that is inside (no earth on the other side) which also confused me, I thought efflorescence was cause by moisture draging the minerals in block to the surface of the block, but this is an inside wall that as far as I can tell is always dry... If anyone can shed some light on this for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, -jay Click to Enlarge 46.16?KB Click to Enlarge 30.74?KB Click to Enlarge 72.97?KB Click to Enlarge 21.82?KB