Hi all,
Here is my situation:
A unit in my townhouse complex (I'm the strata president) has a vertical line of mold on the drywall of the exterior garage wall. The mold is inline with a gutter downspout that is embedded in the wall. Upon opening the wall, it was easy to see condensation forming on the downpipe which would cause the mold. This is the only unit that I know of that has had this issue so I wonder if this particular downpipe is not properly centered on the footer of the wall and is close enough to the drywall such that condensation on the pipe actually touches the drywall.
We have had two contractors quote the repair; one ridiculous ($17k) and another much better ($1800) but I think even that one may still be overkill. I'm curious to know what you all think.
The lower quote is for the following items:
Removing the entire wall's drywall seems excessive when the area affected is less than the area between two studs. It seems like that is being proposed in order to insulate that wall which brings my next question. Why would they insulate and add vapour barrier to an exterior wall that has an unheated garage on the inside? To me it seems that only the downpipe needs insulation and/or a vapour barrier behind the drywall between the studs on either side of the downpipe in order to prevent condensation from ocurring in that section of the wall. The rest of the wall should have no issues as there is low enough moisture and sufficient air flow.
Is my reasoning correct/incorrect? If the quoted work makes sense then I am more than happy to get the work done but, if not, I would like to go back to them and ask for a new quote that involves just replacing a 4'x8' section of the drywall and insulation(bubble-wrap type?)/vapour barrier installation only between the joists containing the downpipe.
Comments? Thx,
Chris P.
Here is my situation:
A unit in my townhouse complex (I'm the strata president) has a vertical line of mold on the drywall of the exterior garage wall. The mold is inline with a gutter downspout that is embedded in the wall. Upon opening the wall, it was easy to see condensation forming on the downpipe which would cause the mold. This is the only unit that I know of that has had this issue so I wonder if this particular downpipe is not properly centered on the footer of the wall and is close enough to the drywall such that condensation on the pipe actually touches the drywall.
We have had two contractors quote the repair; one ridiculous ($17k) and another much better ($1800) but I think even that one may still be overkill. I'm curious to know what you all think.
The lower quote is for the following items:
- Remove all drywall along outside wall of garage showing signs of moisture and dispose of damaged material.
- Seal any holes or cracks in exterior finish from inside the garage to seal out moisture
- Insulate exterior wall with R14 Roxul insulation, and then apply a Vapour barrier
- Re-drywall, tape, mud and sand and prep for painting
- Supply and install two coats of a premium grade Devoe eggshell finish paint to all walls and ceiling in garage after all drywall is finished.
- Re-install any racks and wall mounted items that are currently on walls
Removing the entire wall's drywall seems excessive when the area affected is less than the area between two studs. It seems like that is being proposed in order to insulate that wall which brings my next question. Why would they insulate and add vapour barrier to an exterior wall that has an unheated garage on the inside? To me it seems that only the downpipe needs insulation and/or a vapour barrier behind the drywall between the studs on either side of the downpipe in order to prevent condensation from ocurring in that section of the wall. The rest of the wall should have no issues as there is low enough moisture and sufficient air flow.
Is my reasoning correct/incorrect? If the quoted work makes sense then I am more than happy to get the work done but, if not, I would like to go back to them and ask for a new quote that involves just replacing a 4'x8' section of the drywall and insulation(bubble-wrap type?)/vapour barrier installation only between the joists containing the downpipe.
Comments? Thx,
Chris P.