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Reasons to Control Moisture
- Ugly Odors - Moisture is the source of most ugly odors in a home. When building materials have a constant moisture content above 20%, mold, rot and decay occur. Keeping the moisture content of building materials under 15% is imperative to having a healthy home.
- Dust Mites - When humidity levels are above 50% in conditioned space, dust mites grow much faster. Proper mechanical ventilation systems will maintain healthy humidity levels of 40% in your home.
- Peeling Paint - Moisture in behind paint is trying to escape and is trapped in the building materials. Eventually the moisture wins and the paint is no longer keeps water from entering the structure. Homes in Northern Climates are designed to dry from the inside to the outside.
- Drywall Cracking - When there is excessive moisture levels in dimensional lumber in the summer and in the winter the lumber dries out, this is when drywall cracking and nail popping occur. Some people say homes settle, but it that were the case, you would have foundation cracks. Air sealing and exhausting moisture from the home is an effective cure.
- Wood Boring Pests - Wood boring pest such as termites and carpenter ants enter homes where moisture is in constant contact with the structure. The primary area where pests enter the home is where plants come into contact with the structure. Another location is where driveways, walkways and decks slope toward the structure.
- High Energy Bills - When insulation is damp or wet it's less effective at resisting heat flow. Similar to a wet jacket keeping you warm in the winter. In addition, there are many people who run humidifiers in the winter and de-humidifiers in the summer to combat uncomfortable relative humidity conditions. Some homes are so leaky that they can rarely bring the relative humidity levels above 20% leading to excessively dry itch skin and nose bleeds.
- Stains - Beautiful wood work is damaged when excessive moisture condenses on cold window sills and glass. This is a moisture problem and not a window problem. Granted replacing the single pane windows with double or triple pane vinyl windows will stop the condensation on the windows, but the moisture is still present in the home.
Moisture Control Strategies
- Drainage Planes - Drainage planes are outside your home. Our strategy to minimize moisture penetration into your home include: roof repairs, gutters, gutter protection systems, down spouts, diverters, walls, foundation drains, building lot, driveway and walk way slope improvements.
- Vapor Barriers - Vapor barriers stop diffusion, moisture traveling through building materials such as dry wall and insulation. Paint is an excellent vapor barrier. Paper on fiberglass insulation is another vapor barrier. Often vapor barriers are installed incorrectly and can lead to mold and moisture rot. Vapor diffusion is nominal in allowing moisture into construction cavities compared to convective movement of moisture in air. A 4x8 sheet of dry wall will allow 1/3 of a quart of water to transfer through in a year. Where as 30 quarts of water will travel through a one square inch hole in drywall in a year. Air sealing is more important that vapor barriers as a strategy to keeping your home dry.
- Air Sealing - Stopping air movement also stops excessive moisture from entering into insulated but cold building cavities. We air seal ceilings, foundation walls, exterior walls, and floors of your homes thermal envelope to control moisture movement and stop energy loss. When we perform our assessment of your home it is highly recommended you order a blower door test to identify where there are large air leakage in your homes thermal envelope.
- Exhaust Systems - Our living habits have changed over the years. These new habits bring more moisture into homes that needs to be exhausted out of your home. We take more showers, wash more clothes, enjoy plants, animals and etc. all adding moisture into your home. Not only have our habits changed, homes are built tighter today as well making them more energy efficient but in need of properly sized exhaust ventilation systems. In the old days before central air, windows were used in the summer to ventilate homes and the leaks in the homes walls, ceilings and floors provided ventilation. We can no longer afford to ventilate homes and lose energy.
- Ventilation - Ventilation keeps building cavities dry from the moisture that we have not stopped with exhaust ventilation, vapor barriers, air sealing and drainage plains. We can ventilate, exterior walls, attic cavities and foundation spaces such as crawl spaces. Ventilation is important, how ever it is only part of a strategy to keeping your home's building materials dry. In the past, ventilation was key where as today moisture source reduction, air sealing and exhaust systems have become the primary solution to moisture control.
Irvin Haddad and
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through the EPA to
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renovations & painting
in homes containing
based paint.
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Performance Contracting and Consulting, llc
IRVINHADDAD and Associates
243 Governors Park Road
Bellefonte PA 16823
PAHIC#: 018039
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Moisture Control