Can we please stop giving people the advice to just staple clear plastic sheeting over damp basement walls before putting up framing? I see this tip recommended on DIY blogs all the time as a “cheap waterproofing hack” and it drives me absolutely insane.
All that plastic does is trap the moisture between the cold concrete wall and the wood studs. It has nowhere to evaporate, so it just sits there condensation-style, rots out your framing wood, and creates a massive black mold colony behind your drywall where you can’t see it until it’s too late.
If you can’t afford to properly waterproof the foundation from the outside or use proper rigid foam boards insulation, just leave the walls bare concrete. Taping some cheap plastic to the wall is a shortcut that will literally ruin your indoor air quality and cost you double to fix later on. Rant over.