Warm moist air leaking out of the house through the walls and ceilings is the major cause of condensation and water damage to the structure of the house. In the worst of cases it can cause paint to peel off the outside of the house, start mould growing in the walls, decrease the insulating v...
If there are larger holes in the top of the house than in the bottom of the house, the neutral plane will be raised.I guarantee that if the roof of your house were removed (still blocking the snow with a giant umbrella) there would be no condensation problems in the walls. (This solution is no...
The best household ventilation system is a constant operation fan powered balanced air-change system -- a central system that sucks stale air out an exhaust duct and blows an almost equal amount of fresh air into the house through an intake duct. These systems will usually require a heater o...
In theory, that is very easy to answer. Condensation is caused when warm moist air either receives more moisture, or gets colder, or both. The solution is simple: stop the addition of moisture (by stopping the generation of moisture or venting off excess moisture), or raise the temperature...
This generally indicates a lack of insulation behind the moist area. This can occur when loose-fill insulation has settled, leaving gaps. Open the wall and inspect the insulation.Corners are usually poorly insulated, and they lose more heat than flat walls anyway. If insulation cannot be up...
Frost in the attic is no different than anywhere else. It is caused by warm moist air coming into contact with cold surfaces and dropping its moisture. The problem in attics is primarily one of quantity; in one house frost accumulations of up to fifteen hundred pounds were discovered one co...
When fiberglass is pushed up into the space between the floor joists around the perimeter of the basement, condensation often builds up on the wood behind the fiberglass. This can be stopped by the addition of an air barrier -- as simple as Kraft paper or as complex as caulked polystyrene. In p...
Dry rot is actually a fungal growth that destroys the cell structure of wood. In order to grow it requires moisture, oxygen, and warmth. Once started it will not grow in the winter, but it will survive and continue to grow during whatever periods of time provide its three necessary conditio...
Much of this book has been concerned with controlling humidity in the house. A double-glazed window is a perfect alarm system to warn us of dangerous humidity conditions. A double-glazed window has just enough thermal insulation to allow comfort in the house without producing condensation on th...
One viewer recommended using hard soap on a mirror to keep it from fogging up in the bathroom. So we tested it against no treatment, and against polishing it with shaving cream, a recommendation from a viewer last year. The hard soap looked pretty good although a bit streaked. The ?no treatment?...
