LESLIE: Anna in Illinois is on the line with a question about a moldy smell from porch. How can we help you today?
ANNA: Well, I have this problem. This porch is closed in even on the north side. But the north side of it is not finished. And recently, I have had this moldy, musty smell in it.
Now, yesterday it was nice. I opened the windows and you couldn’t smell it or when I had the dehumidifier on. But if I have neither, I can smell that musty smell. And my question is this. I’ve taken off the old insulation that was in there. And do I need to do anything to the porch, to the wood, before I put the new insulation in it? And would that help?
TOM: OK. So first of all, this is a porch, so it’s not a heated space. Is that correct?
ANNA: Yes.
TOM: Why are you insulating it if it’s not a heated space?
ANNA: I just thought maybe that would help the moisture or this damp-y smell.
TOM: No, not at all. In fact, it will make the moldy smell from porch worse. You want to – you basically want to let this dry out as easily as possible. Look, anything that’s outside, Anna, is always going to be damp, just because of the nature of it. But I don’t think you want to close this in, add insulation or anything like that. That’s just going to hold moisture and it has absolutely zero benefit as insulation, because you’re not trying to keep the heat on one side and the cold on the other.
So I would definitely pull that insulation out, Anna. And I would air out those spaces. And what I would also do is I would spray those walls with a good-quality cleaner, like Spray & Forget. That will take care of mold, mildew, algae, even dirt that forms on those walls and take that out of the equation, as well. So, pull the insulation out, spray them down and then let them air out and I think that will solve your moldy smell from porch.
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