Moisture sources underneath your house contribute to humidity effects inside your home. Water vapor continuously rises, seeping through structural gaps and into the living spaces above. High indoor humidity levels make it harder to maintain temperatures in the comfort zone, creating a clammy, colder environment in winter and a muggy, overly hot feeling in summer. Moisture infiltration also triggers condensation on interior surfaces that can spawn active mold growth, a known trigger of allergic responses in susceptible individuals.
Identifying and addressing causes of chronic moisture beneath the house are the first steps to remedying the negative humidity effects inside your home. Here are some of the usual suspects to investigate:
Leaky plumbing.
Drips and seepage from plumbing pipes that run through the crawl space or basement are generally out of sight and may happen without your knowledge. As the immediate area remains saturated, this ongoing moisture source continuously sends water vapor into the house.
Defective fixtures.
Bathroom components such as the bathtub and the shower stall may covertly leak every time the fixture is used. This water infiltrates through the sub-floor and soaks the zone beneath the bathroom. Water vapor rising boosts indoor humidity.
Clogged gutters.
Rainwater overflowing clogged gutters saturates the soil adjacent to the crawl space or basement walls. High soil water content migrates beneath the house and becomes a source of increasing humidity.
First, get professional service to test indoor humidity and pinpoint potential sources. Repair plumbing problems and defective fixtures. Keep the gutters clean of leaves or other debris, year-round. Also, consider these more permanent remedies:
- Passive ventilation of the crawl space and basement helps purge accumulating water vapor. Vent grates can be installed in the side of the home or in the foundation sill to enhance ventilation.
- Specialized crawl space and basement dehumidifiers are also designed to extract water vapor from the air and maintain pre-set humidity levels in those trouble zones.
Ask the professionals at Hartman Brothers about proven methods to identify and remediate excess humidity effects in your home.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in New Haven, Indiana and surrounding Fort Wayne area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 260-376-2961.