Mine ties in to the perimeter drain too, but goes to the city sewer system.
When the district inspected a couple of years ago, they said it could stay like that because it ties in outside of the structure. If it would have been inside, I would of had to change it. $50 fine a month for not changing it.
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Although its not the job of a home inspector to determine cause, common causes may include:
- Mopping/Cleaning the floor
- Plumbing Leak
- Plumbing backup
- High water table and no sump/drain tile
- Moisture management, think rain/snow melt
- Lastly, all too common at concrete. Elevated levels of humidity, condensing on a colder surface and peg board in contact with concrete.
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Todd,
Agreed with Fudge.
If the basement floor is dry, try using your Moisture Meter on that board, it may be already dry out.if you do not measure/detect current humidity (at the moment of the inspection), just recommend painting the board with a mildew stain primer. Do not write that down in your report, just orally communicate to your client a simple palliative is an action that is intended to make the effects of a problem less severe but does not actually solve the problem.
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Here in GA, and maybe in OH, non-treated wood cannot be in contact with that concrete because of termites.
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That is very much true…
Inside or outside, it has to be “Pressure Treated Lumber” and must consider a vapor or humidity barrier shield to bounce back down moisture migrating from the underground.
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Yes, same in Ohio, shouldn’t be in contact, not only for termites but also for concrete weeping and sweating to prevent wood rot.
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Yes! 
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There is also the possibility that the peg board was leaning up against the outside of the house, or in a garage with a wet floor for a few days or so before installation. As stated above, if nothing obvious points to current moisture intrusion, all you can do is document what you see and recommend that they have the homeowner shed more light on it and that they monitor the area moving forward. We see so much stuff that can’t be explained, you will go crazy trying to figure it out.
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short mexican chihuahua with arthritis … can’t raise his leg higher
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That Chihuahua would have been laying on it’s back.
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Apart from the obvious trash that was painted into the floor, there’s blisters in the paint. Also look at the drywall screws at the bottom of the peg board. The black staining from those screws travels upward, away from the source of the moisture. Wicking moisture from the slab will do this every time…
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The paint runs up onto the peg board and there’s what looks like bare concrete in the missed areas in the close up, so there’s probably bare concrete under the peg board that’s still going to wick moisture up into the bottom of the peg board as it apparently did before.