I've noticed the same thing in our spare room—it's tucked away and rarely used, so airflow is pretty minimal. Even something as simple as leaving a damp jacket or shoes in there seems to crank up the condensation. Makes me wonder if rooms that aren't regularly heated or ventilated are just naturally more prone to moisture buildup. Have you tried using one of those small moisture absorbers in there, like DampRid or something similar? Curious if that might help balance things out a bit...
"Makes me wonder if rooms that aren't regularly heated or ventilated are just naturally more prone to moisture buildup."
Yeah, that's definitely true from my experience. We had a similar issue in our guest room—barely used and always felt damp, especially in winter. I tried one of those DampRid containers you mentioned, and honestly, it did help quite a bit. Another thing that worked surprisingly well was just cracking the door open regularly to let air circulate. Simple but effective...
Yeah, I've noticed the same thing in our basement. It's not heated much, and every winter the windows down there fog up like crazy. Tried DampRid too—worked okay-ish, but honestly, running a small fan occasionally made a bigger difference. Makes me wonder if it's more about airflow than anything else? Or maybe my basement's just cursed... wouldn't surprise me at this point, haha.
Had the exact same issue in our laundry room—windows fogging up every winter, DampRid was meh. Here's what finally worked for me:
- Definitely agree airflow is key. I put in a small oscillating fan, ran it on low a few hours a day, and it noticeably cut down on condensation.
- Also found sealing any tiny gaps around the windows helped a bit. Used weather stripping tape from the hardware store—cheap and easy fix.
- If you haven't yet, check your gutters/downspouts outside. Mine were clogged, causing moisture buildup near the basement walls. Clearing them out made a surprising difference inside too.
Honestly though, basements are just weird like that...maybe they're all cursed to some extent, haha. Hope one of these helps you out!
Haha, basements really do have their own weird little ecosystem... Glad you found something that worked. I swear by weather stripping too—cheap fixes ftw. Might try the fan trick next winter, sounds promising.
Basements are definitely their own little worlds, haha. I spent way too many weekends battling condensation myself—tried everything from those moisture absorbers (you know, the bucket things?) to running a dehumidifier nonstop. Weather stripping was a lifesaver for windows upstairs, but downstairs... man, it was like fighting a swamp monster.
Eventually, what did the trick for me was actually improving airflow. I rigged up a cheap box fan on low speed to circulate air around the basement windows. Just angled it slightly upward and left it running overnight. It felt kinda silly at first, but after a couple days, no more foggy windows. Go figure.
Anyway, glad you found something that works. Basements are stubborn beasts, gotta keep experimenting till something sticks.
"Eventually, what did the trick for me was actually improving airflow. I rigged up a cheap box fan on low speed to circulate air around the basement windows."
Funny you mention airflow, because that's exactly what ended up working for me too—but with a bit of a twist. I tried the fan trick at first, and it definitely helped, but I still had some stubborn condensation around the edges of the windows. So I got curious and started poking around the basement walls, and it turned out my insulation was pretty sketchy behind the drywall. Moisture was sneaking in from outside, causing the windows to fog up no matter how much air I circulated.
Here's what I ended up doing, step-by-step, in case anyone else runs into the same issue:
1. Pulled back a small section of drywall near the window (just a small test area first—didn't want to tear up the whole basement right away).
2. Found some damp fiberglass insulation. Yikes.
3. Removed the soggy insulation and dried the area thoroughly with a space heater and fan combo.
4. Replaced it with rigid foam insulation board, sealed the edges with spray foam, and patched up the drywall again.
5. THEN I went back to the fan trick—angled toward the windows like you described—and left it running overnight.
After doing all that, the condensation completely disappeared. It was like magic... or at least like finally defeating the basement swamp monster, haha.
I guess the moral of the story is sometimes airflow alone won't cut it if you've got hidden moisture issues lurking behind the walls. Basements really are weird little ecosystems, aren't they? Glad you got yours sorted out—it's always satisfying when you finally hit on the right solution after trying everything else.
Yeah, airflow definitely helps, but like you said, it's usually not the whole story. I had a similar issue a couple years back—thought a fan would fix it, but nope. Turned out my gutters were clogged and water was pooling near the foundation. Cleared those out, redirected the downspouts, and suddenly the basement windows stayed dry. Basements are sneaky like that... always something else lurking behind the scenes. Glad you figured yours out though.
Good point about the gutters—it's surprising how often moisture issues trace back to drainage. I had a similar experience, but in my case, the culprit was actually landscaping. The previous owners had built up flower beds right against the foundation, trapping moisture against the basement walls. Once I regraded the soil and added some gravel for better drainage, the humidity dropped significantly. Airflow helps manage symptoms, but addressing the root cause usually involves looking outside first... basements really do keep you guessing.
Had a similar issue here, but it wasn't gutters or landscaping—it turned out to be our dryer vent. Previous owners routed it poorly, so moisture was just blowing back toward the house. Once we redirected that, windows cleared right up... always something unexpected with houses.