Comments on: A Moisture Mystery Anyone Could Solve

By: Thos.

Thos. — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 03:42:40 +0000

Thank you for the article and
Thank you for the article and pictures of the found conditions. I would like to see some information on the overall building. Is it possible to see the entire elevation of the wall.
I see in the rotted wood sill that this is not a solid masonry wall construction. I suspect it is an applied stone veneer and as such. It has no evidence of flashings, installed working weep holes, nor a drainage plane or associated space between frame construction and the exterior masonry. My personal experience with such stick-on stone veneers has always been they are trouble. They leak by way of the many holes in setting the stones and other poor joints in the installation.
This is a long existing condition and may vary well dangerous to renters of the building. But that is another article.
As for fixing the issues it requires in depth inspection and a willingness to solve the conditions regardless of the cost.

By: Kevin Brauer

Kevin Brauer — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 05:07:48 +0000

Does wall orientation allow
Does wall orientation allow solar moisture drive to wet wall interior?

By: Albany Landlord

Albany Landlord — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 00:56:31 +0000

In reply to E Chrzanowski. E, if you search this site
E, if you search this site (and greenbuildingadvisor.com) you will find sorm stories about powered roof ventilators. The short answer is the powered attic fan is pulling the conditioned air out of your house and into the attic through the cracks and holes between them. That air is replaced by hot moist outside air leaking into your house. Turn off the attic fans and leave them off. Everyone who tells you not to do this (most people) is wrong. For more info see the articles.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 00:27:31 +0000

After working on houses and
After working on houses and doing repairs for years, I have found a lot of people tend to lack spacial awareness. Many times I will go to properties to look at one item and I leave giving them a whole list of things they didn't realize were wrong

By: RoyC

RoyC — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 18:43:37 +0000

In reply to Mac Sheldon. Mac, minisplits and portable
Mac, minisplits and portable units have condensate drains that can plug up and cause problems too.

By: RoyC

RoyC — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 18:17:56 +0000

Do you really think that this
Do you really think that this window unit had a condensate drain? A lot of them have a sling ring on the condenser fan that throws the condensate onto the condenser coil (or through it). I am guessing that the condensate drain path from the evaporator to the condenser fan got plugged or the unit is not level.

By: E Chrzanowski

E Chrzanowski — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 18:13:08 +0000

Bought a house 8 years ago
Bought a house 8 years ago that has 2 roof power vents. One vent stopped working and was told because attic has no other source of venting, needed to replace the power vents ( wish I had found your article). The power vents were replaced with more powerful ones that move a greater amount of air. I am now having problems with my central air and very high humidity levels in the house. I am uneducated on roof ventilation-thought I was doing the right thing but now fear that my central air/humidity problem is due to the power vents. I have a HVAC repair tech coming and as an experiment turned off the power vents to see what happens. My roof is very pitched with the back slanting.Do not know if I have adequate space for ridge vents if I removed and repaired power vent holes. If I can do ridge venting and have to wait for a roof company to do the work is it ok not to have any ventilation while I wait. I am at a loss as what to do.

By: Mac Sheldon

Mac Sheldon — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 17:33:17 +0000

What?!? Solving a building
What?!? Solving a building durability problem without a WUFI model and reference to the psychedelic chart? Blasphemy!

Praise the mini-split for this kind of application, and if that’s not economically practical even the little stand-alone room ACs with the duct out and in through the window opening would be better.

I hope the owner was receptive to your suggestions for improvement and repair. I’ll bet they had no idea the value of your advise. Priceless!

By: M. Johnson

M. Johnson — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 15:13:32 +0000

A factoid I gleaned from some
A factoid I gleaned from some building guys who talk publicly around here (i.e. Houston Texas)… old style construction had no insulation, which had the benefit that water leaks would quickly dry out.

Adding insulation meant adding a host of other problems to fight. I’m still searching for how to have foam insulation at the roof decking while guaranteeing it won’t create rot in a hot-humid climate.

Two steps forward, one step back.

By: Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd

Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 15:05:47 +0000

Great post, Allison. Agree —
Great post, Allison. Agree — sometimes, you just have to look at the evidence.