Condensation is a Hidden Water Damage Friend

Most of us know that water damage and mold are good friends, almost inseparable. Where you find one, you’re sure to find the other. However, water damage has another friend. This other friend isn’t quite as flamboyant as mold with its telltale black, green, and gray splotches and musty odor. In fact, water damage’s hidden friend, condensation, is practically invisible. But where you find condensation, you often find water damage. From there, guess who else arrives, making for a damaging threesome? Mold.

 

Condensation is a natural process that you likely remember from schools. Water evaporates and turns from its liquid form into its gaseous form. When water goes from its gaseous form back to its liquid form, condensation occurs. You can see evaporation and condensation in action each morning when you take a shower. The hot water from the shower head feels great and helps you get your day off to a nice, clean start. Some of the water goes down the drain while some of it evaporates into steam. When the steam cools and lands on a surface, it condenses back into its liquid form. Look closely at that fogged up mirror and you will see millions of tiny water droplets. If you wipe your hand along the walls, you’ll likely feel the water on the walls.

 

The kitchen is another place where evaporation and condensation take place such as when you’re cooking on the stovetop. The same is true of your laundry room where your hot dryer works hard at evaporating the water out of your clothes.

 

If your home is equipped with an appropriate amount of vents, evaporated water is swiftly vented outdoors and water damage and mold do not appear. However, if your bathroom or kitchen lack exhaust vents or your dryer vent is clogged with lint, the evaporated water has nowhere to go. When it condenses, water droplets cling to surfaces of your home. Over time, water damage occurs. Baseboards may warp, windows may fog between the panes, carpets may be soggy, wallpaper may peel, rust may appear, drywall may soften and crumble, and so on. And you know who always shows up when water is persistently present: mold.

 

In addition to natural condensation occurring in your home, condensation also occurs in or around the home’s appliances particularly those that have compressors of some sort as compression can cause condensation. Pay close attention to refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, and water heaters. Many of these appliances have drip pans designed to collect condensate or leaks while others will have hoses that whisk away any overflowing condensate to a drain. These pans should be inspected regularly and drained to ensure that mold is not present and that they are not overflowing and causing water damage to the surfaces below. If hoses are involved, inspect the hoses for leaks to make sure that no condensate is escaping the hose on its way to the drain.

 

Whether condensation originates in a room such as the bathroom or laundry room or is due to condensation that has collected from an appliance, controlling the moisture is the key to ensuring that condensation’s friends, water damage and mold, do not join the party. Start by considering the source of the moisture and then addressing that source to ensure that condensed water no longer forms or is properly whisked away. For example, if the laundry room is moister than expected, your dryer’s vent may be clogged. Another sign of a clogged dryer vent is an excessively long drying cycle. Have your dryer vent cleaned and allow the moisture to move outdoors instead of in your home. If your kitchen has problems with condensation, use the exhaust vent and check to make sure that the vent grill is not clogged with grease. Use the bathroom exhaust vent every time you take a shower.

 

Controlling hidden condensation is a preventative step that must be taken to prevent water damage and mold.

 

By: Mr. Mark Decherd

 

For more information and other articles by Mark Decherd go to:

 

Dryout® Inc.
1415 Colonial Blvd.
Fort Myers, Fl. 33907
http://www.dryout.net
239-437-7100

 

Dryout Inc Emergency water damage restoration, drying, deodorization, decontamination, disinfection, mold removal, water damage repair, restoration and reconstruction of commercial and residential properties damaged by fire, water and other disasters by a network of trained specialists, technicians and restoration professionals across the USA and Canada.

 

Comments

[water damage restorers]

Wow, this is nice! I have been wanting to take the course that has something to do with water damage restoration and be one of certified water damage restorers and help others. Thanks!