Moisture and Your Home—Part 2

Previously, we touched on how to determine if you have moisture in your home, now we need to cover some of the ways to correct the moisture issues you found.  First and foremost, many are cut and dried and very simple, while some are more difficult and involved.  With leaky windows, drafty thresholds, and dripping pipes, the answers are simple, and most can be fixed by you.  The answer to resolving vapor in the home is somewhat more complex and involved.

The first prevention most homes normally employ is installed when the home is built, in the form of a plastic barrier underneath the foundation, if the home is built on concrete.  The problem comes when the concrete contractor pokes holes in the plastic to speed up the drying time—yes, it happens.  When the holes that ordinarily would not be there now are, all kinds of moisture issues can occur, almost none of which are immediate.  How do you know, and how do you fix it?

Before you install floors in your home, a moisture test is key and can be completed with the use of a simple moisture meter.  Increased levels indicate the need for another moisture barrier besides the one beneath the concrete foundation.  They come in various forms (roll on, paint on, peel and stick, etc.) and are rated for varying levels of vapor protection.  All vapor barriers allow a minimal amount of moisture vapor to come through, and your properly working air conditioning system will be capable of regulating it from there.

In a crawlspace type home where the house is elevated about the ground, ventilation is always required.  In cases where the moisture continues to migrate from the ground into the home unchecked, plastic can be placed on the ground in the crawlspace to reduce the moisture levels.  It does not eliminate the need for ventilation, however, and the general rule is to have at least 1.5 square feet of ventilation for every 100 square feet of your home.  When installing hardwood floors in your home, plastic must cover the ground in the crawl space, and if the minimum requirements are not met for ventilation, a mechanical ventilation system would need to be installed.  In the picture, an unidentified fungus is growing in a crawlspace with excessive moisture due to inadequate ventilation.  The humidity was above 70% and had caused the wood floors to cup throughout the entire home.

Whenever you look to put money into your home in the form of renovation, ensure you use a qualified contractor who will not shortcut the basic essentials of providing you a working product that will not give you trouble in the long run.  Ensure you are protected against moisture by knowing the signs of its presence, and do not ignore it.  Its negative impact upon your health and investment in the long run are incredible.

Crawl Space Moisture and How to Fix It