Got a question for you Mainers.

We locked into a house and hope to start relocating in early Spring. The seller & agent mentioned several times that the home has a dry basement. Is there such a thing in ME?

Given the weight of gun safes and its just me doing the lifting/moving I doubt the main living space is an option and I'd rather not hire a company for this.

The safes have the usual golden rods and dryers in them but are there any worries locating them in the basement? I can't imagine the basement would be any wetter than the avg home down here in the SE. I currently run a Santa Fe dehu's under my home in the SE, I plan on bringing it with me as each one is rated between 2-3K sq ft.

Do you all heat your basements up there?

There are definitely dry basements in Maine. There are definitely wet basements in Maine. All depends on where the house was built and/or how well the drainage is. As far as humidity, Maine probably isn't as humid as SE US. We had a couple of weeks of 80%+ humidity this past summer. I think average humidity in the summer is closer to the mid 60%. I would still use the golden rod in the safe. Depending on the home you get, the dehumidifier might not be necessary. I think heated basements are not the norm. Boilers/furnaces are usually in the basement and provide some heat. Many basements that are not finished will not have any other heat. In my last house, I had forced-air heat. There were a couple of outlets in ducts in the basement, but I had one closed.

Where in Maine will you be?

Our home has a "dry" basement in that we do not have a sump pump and if it rains no water issues to speak of.. Well except for a couple cracks where enough water runs into the crack and makes the crack wet. Our basement is also a daylight basement, open on one end.. Perhaps that helps. And being up on a hill and not in a swamp.

I run a dehumidifier in the basement during the summer to keep the RH down around 50% or less. This has less to do with the basement and more to do with the fact it can get really humid in the summer sometimes and since we are not down south everybody does not have central AC that keeps the place dry.

As far as heating the basement it is really not needed if your home is more modern and built properly. I have heat in my basement and use that space daily but normally I do not run it because I don't want to pay for the extra heating cost. I just put on an electric space heater when I am down there. My basement unheated will get into the upper 30's in the coldest times of winter. Most people's basement I feel does not get this cold but again having the daylight basement one whole wall is exposed to the cold air. The people who built the house also never put insulation boards on the cement walls so that cement just draws the heat out. We also have a radon fan that pulls air from under the slab and I feel it sucks cold air under the slab and cools the slab more than a normal basement. My in-laws basement is always cozy warm in the winter and they do not heat down there at all but they do have their furnace down there.

Thanks for the info, we are closing on a house in Surry if all goes well w/the inspection.  Its relatively newer construction (a decade old) and over the summer my wife did indicate that the basement was dry even though while she was there it pretty much rained all week.

Seller said the same thing that his space heater provides adequate heat for the unfinished basement, its not a walk out but has the typical bulkhead doors. I figure its a lot easier getting the safe down there vs going up.

Ah, that's right. I had forgotten that you were looking to relocate. Best of luck getting the house. Surry is a nice town. I did some work at the hospitals in Blue Hill and Ellsworth for about 10 years. Will you kids go to school in Ellsworth?

Yes Sir we will only be a few miles from Ellsworth, looks like we are not restricted to any one school like down here so there are options. Schools up there have some decent ratings and the teacher/student ratio is drastically reduced. Thats a big plus for us, maybe not so much for our kids haha.

If your basement stays dry in spring,after the snow melt and spring rains saturate the ground,then your basement is not likely to get water.Lots of homes have sump pumps like mine does.I have a standard type pump plus a battery powered back up for power outages.Well worth the money for the back up.A generator is a big plus as well.My safe is up on a 16 in slab.On the outside chance my basement winds up with water the safe will still be above the water.I also have a wood stove in the basement,keeps things dry and warm in the winter plus the floors above are warm also.