Really, disgustingly sweaty concrete floor....help.

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My house was built in the early seventies and I guess they felt that since it was just a weekend home for them that there was no need to put in a vapor barrier, or if there was a vapor barrier, it doesn't exist anymore. This year has been extreme on the sweating. It's like walking in a locker room shower. Usually it is just a day or two when it's really wet, but this is fourth series of this stuff thiss year. It's driving me batty. I only have area rugs, it was all carpeted and smelled wonderful when I bought it, so I can deal with pulling out the rugs. My question is...is there anything that can be done after the fact to help alleviate this sweating? I've laid down towels where I walk the most because it is so disgusting. Thanks for the help!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), April 04, 2001

Answers

ventilation,, you have to move the air. If there is that much,, IM not sure a dehumidifier would work to well. Is there alot of water running next to your house? water table pretty high, seems like alot of water soming in thru the concrete

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), April 04, 2001.

stan pretty much pegged it.Ventilate ventilate ventilate.What is the relitive humidity inside? outside? It may be moisture laden air.In that case a dehumidifier would help if it is run constantly.They are pretty much an air conditioner in reverse so your electric will go up.Out of curiosity Do you vent clothes dryer heat into the house?

-- greg (gsmith@tricountyi.net), April 04, 2001.

Is it ground water seeping through the floor or is it condensation (too much moisture in the air that condenses when it hits the cool slab)? If it's ground water, I don't know what to say.

Condensation: Dehumidifier, ventilation, fans. I have read that you can put down vapor barrier, then wood sleepers with rigid insultation between them, plywood over that, then whatever finished floor you want, but of course, this will build your floor up about 1.5 inches (which is not always a workable situation), and it will cost some money. But it insulates the cool concrete slab from the moist air.

-- Joy F (So.Central Wisconsin) (CatFlunky@excite.com), April 04, 2001.


I've had the ceiling fans running for days and the windows open. The humidity outside is 93% as of this am. I didn't check it inside. It's definetly condensation. I think the dew point must be close to 100% most of the time lately. I might just look into the raised flooring, this is too gross. The only thing is that I wonder if raising the floor would cause problems with the studs and walls where they attach to the concrete, mold havens and whatnot. I'll bring the dehumidifier from work home with me. Perhaps I should dub my place "The Swamp" until we have a drought...Thanks all.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), April 04, 2001.

Doreen: I think you can put down thoroseal and that may work. They use this stuff in basements. Might try a spot. Wipe it on and let it dry. Sand. Do 3 coats or so that way. I can't imagine living on wet floors!....Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), April 04, 2001.


Some things I would try: The vapor barrier paint (the stuff really works well) It is (as mentioned above, sold for use in basements. Pointing downspouts further away from your house... or, if no gutters, put some on. Clean gutters if they are full. Cleck for clogged downspouts. Making a small hill of dirt around the foundation to carry moisture away from house. Digging next to foundation and putting in a gravel bed that has drain pipe in to flow rain water away from house. Look into how your water supply is piped in... if there was a broken water pipe or sewage pipe, even under the concrete, it could cause the dampness. Last resort: jack the whole pad up using twenty or more house jacks, install plastic barrier and set it back down... that would be a project, though!

-- kevin (vantravlrs@aol.com), April 05, 2001.

Thanks Kevin, I think I'll pass on jacking up the slab! The dehumidifier is helping but now the paint has started to bubble so I will need to repaint any way.I have new gutters on and the down spouts go out and away from the house, I think it's just because we have such heavy clay soil here and it has been so unusually wet. I hate to whine about rain as I would rather too much rain than drought, but there is a point.

On the thoroseal, do I have to take off the paint I have on? Guess I can find that out at the orange place...Thanks for all the help everyone.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), April 05, 2001.


Before you go to a lot of trouble with a drainage solution, check with other locals to make sure you just don't have a temperature differential condensation problem. (The floor is cooler than the surrounding moisture laden atmosphere.)

-- Lynn Goltz (lynngoltz@aol.com), April 05, 2001.

My guess is that you're only experiencing this wet concrete floor problem in the spring of the year or at least the worst of it. If that's correct then your problem is strictly condensation of the humid air onto the colder slab. This is a problem in the spring because the high thermal inertia in the mass of the slab and the mass of the ground under the slab keep the slab cooler longer. In simpler terms, the slab and the ground under it are still cold from the winter. And until the slab warms up or the air gets drier, you'll have a condensation problem.

So to live in this place in the spring, you'll need to correct one or both of those conditions. The easiest by far would be to run dehumidifiers to dry the air. To warm the surface of the slab would be a bit more expensive option. However, for not too much money you could install a cheap hydronic radiant floor heating system in a thick gypsum coat on top of the slab. Check out www.radiantec.com for owner installable systems that run off the domestic hot water heater.

-- Steve in Southern WI (alpine1@prodigy.net), July 06, 2001.


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