Concrete/cement foundation/floor sweating?
#1
01-10-09, 10:22 AM
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Washington State
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Concrete/cement foundation/floor sweating?
Hopefully with all the details I give will help me get a diagnosis and some suggestions. I rent a home built in 1942 that has an add on room on the back. The room serves as a laundry/mud/pantry room. The foundation and floor is concrete/cement. The room is approx. 26 X 6, has six 4 X 5 dbl pained windows, vinyl flooring with cove base around the room and an entry door. The room has a base board heater, the new hot water heater and my washer(doesn't leak) & dryer in it. My problem is that this room is continually wet. I am spending way too much time trying to keep the room dry and free of mold/mildew and that damp musty smell. The windows stay constantly moist causing black mildew in the tracks. The (old)entry door has a window & it is constantly damp and mildews. The floor is always wet around the walls. The room is not level and the moisture runs down to the outside wall and also runs to the lowest part of the room causing small pools of water. Behind the hot water heater is the dryer vent/hose over the copper pipe that is the vent/drain for the washer that goes through the outside wall. This morning I noticed that the dryer vent tube had condensation on it and the copper pipe below it was dripping the moisture. When I run the dryer the vent dries and the copper pipe doesn't drip the moisture. Please keep in mind I am a woman trying to solve a mystery and fix this problem. Call the landlord???? I would rather not based on he's a P I T A!(Pain) I wiped the windows, walls & floor dry & went outside and sprayed water down the window, side of the house, around the foundation that is about 1' high, around the dryer vent and hold the pipe comes through. Good news... no leaking. After a few minutes I noticed that the cove base was moist again. I pulled back a short section of it to see what that looks like. The cove base is glued against the concrete where it meets the drywall/sheetrock. I do not see any visible water behind the cove base. The temp. outside is 40 degrees, I live in Washington State and yes it has been raining a lot, in fact surrounding areas are flooding due to the snow melt here. This isn't the cause I don't think because this room is always wet/moist/damp. Is my problem due to the windows, walls etc. sweating?? I put 2 fans in this room yesterday and have them running against the walls & windows. 4 of the 6 windows were pretty dry this morning however the base of the walls and surrounding floor was wet. I am currently removing a few wood furniture pieces out due to them being wet and mildewing. Aside from buying a costly dehumidifier what can I do? Any answers or suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!
#2
01-10-09, 04:14 PM
Hi,
Your room is slab on grade construction, that is, a concrete slab floor that is always going to be cool as a result of the ambient(ground)temperatures. If moisture is present it will codensate on the floor. If you had a wood framed floor with a crawl space you wouldn't have this situation. You live in a very humid locale. Even so, there should not be this much moisture in the room. I'm inclined to think that there is some kind of a construction flaw that is causing this structure to hold moisture such as ventilation, insulation, etc. My advice and the dumb way to remedy this situation would be to buy a dehumidifier. You rent this place. You don't want to spend your money to fix your landlords house and when you leave you can take your dehumidifier with you.
Your room is slab on grade construction, that is, a concrete slab floor that is always going to be cool as a result of the ambient(ground)temperatures. If moisture is present it will codensate on the floor. If you had a wood framed floor with a crawl space you wouldn't have this situation. You live in a very humid locale. Even so, there should not be this much moisture in the room. I'm inclined to think that there is some kind of a construction flaw that is causing this structure to hold moisture such as ventilation, insulation, etc. My advice and the dumb way to remedy this situation would be to buy a dehumidifier. You rent this place. You don't want to spend your money to fix your landlords house and when you leave you can take your dehumidifier with you.
