Ventilating a tornado room

[SallyTogeth]

Hello,

I have purchased a house with a tornado room, and currently it is really musty. All four walls are concrete including the floor/ceiling. The room's ceiling is the concrete front porch which is 10 inches thick, and the walls are 8 inches thick. The room is 20 feet long and 5 feet wide. The only access to the room is a thick wood door from the finished basement.

The problem is the room is really musty, and the room sometimes gets moisture from the rain. How do I ventilate a room like that? I am a total amateur at this. Do I drill a hole through the roof and have a ventilation fan push air out a curved PVC pipe? Do I put a fan in door of the room? These ideas were given to me by other people, but I'm not sure what to do. I don't like the door idea, I would like to keep the finished basement nice, without a fan in a door...Any ideas are appreciated.

Thank you all for your help.

[buckofdurham]

The problem is the room is really musty, and the room sometimes gets moisture from the rain. How do I ventilate a room like that? I am a total amateur at this. Do I drill a hole through the roof and have a ventilation fan push air out a curved PVC pipe?.

I would cut two vents one on each end of the walls and under the porch.
You will have to rent a concrete saw. Get the vents at one of the big box stores. You can get one with a humidistat and a fan if neccessary. They even make one that opens automatically.
But I'm thinking since their are no vents their at all now. Just regular crawl space type vents should work fine. They are about 8"x16" over all. They will have luvers that can be closed from the out or inside. They will also have screen on them to keep insects out.

[HayZee518]

suspend a fan near the ceiling blowing air in and another fan at floor level blowing air out. eventually with all the air changes the room air should clear. when you close it up, put about a 75 watt light bulb in there and keep it on. the bulb should create enough of heat to dry out the room air.

[buckofdurham]

Originally Posted by HayZee518

suspend a fan near the ceiling blowing air in and another fan at floor level blowing air out. eventually with all the air changes the room air should clear. when you close it up, put about a 75 watt light bulb in there and keep it on. the bulb should create enough of heat to dry out the room air.

A 75 watt light bulb! Your kidding right.

[HayZee518]

nope - its gets pretty warm!

[buckofdurham]

Originally Posted by HayZee518

nope - its gets pretty warm!

If you say so. I think ''Dorothy's'' folks used candles in their tornado shelter.
'
By the way Sally Just in case the fridge dets blown away. How about putting a few MRE'S Down their, too. Sealed up tight of course. You can get them at the Army Surplus Store.