Basements get damp. It’s one of the natural laws of the universe – like how when you drop a piece of toast, it always lands butter-side down. But there are things you can do to keep your finished basement dry, fresh and welcoming.

For many homeowners, adding egress windows helped eliminate their damp problem – as it gave a free-flowing source of fresh air that helped expel lingering moisture.

But if you’re deciding to finish your basement, there are some other tips and techniques you can use to minimize or eliminate the risk of dampness.

The first is to consider adding a humidifier. These portable units literally suck the moisture out of the air, and help keep your basement dry and crisp.

Another smart move is to avoid carpet or wood flooring in your basement, and go with tile. Not only is tile easy to install and incredibly tough and durable, it’s also impervious to moisture – so will help keep your basement dryer.

As an added bonus; if your basement ever gets flooded, tile flooring will remain undamaged. For people living in flood-zones like New Jersey, installing a tile floor once is infinitely preferable to having to rip up hardwood flooring, or carpet, every time there’s a storm and flooding.

But, of course, the smartest way to keep your basement dry is to install an egress window, if you haven’t already. In addition to being a potentially life-saving escape route (and a requirement of national building code) egress windows can be opened up to let fresh air in and circulate around the basement.

Even better, this simple step can literally pay for itself with the increase to your home value – making it one of the smartest improvements you can make to your home, whether you’re planning on enjoying your finished basement yourself, or if you added it to rent out or to add resale value to your house.