Wet Wall

bonnie073104 · 07-21-2011, 01:07 PM

Hi, I have a problem with a wet wall. I have looked through the forum and found some information on sweating walls due to condensation, but they seem to indicate this would happen mainly in the winter.

We bought this house 2 months ago and this week I noticed a lot of moisture on one of the walls. It has been very hot and humid where I live, and we do not have AC, as it is usually a colder climate here. The moisture is in a small area - about 3 feet of space on an interior hallway wall along the baseboard. The baseboard is also quite wet and I can tell that the wood has experienced wetness before, as it is darker than the baseboard wood throughout the rest of the house. This hallway has marble tile floor and it much cooler than the rest of the house. There is plenty of airflow in the hallway from windows and doors being open. The crawlspace under the house is dry, and there are no pipes running down the wall behind this wall. The wet area is only on a small portion of the wall - as I said, about 3 feet of space in a hallway with probly 30 feet of wall space total. The other side of the wall is the living room; the hallway is in the middle of the house.

Is it possible that this is simply condensation from the hot humid weather?

Thanks so much in advance!

mustangmike3789 · 07-21-2011, 01:33 PM

i live in a hot and humid place too. if this were caused by high humidity or a high due point, i dont see it only happening to a 3' section of wall. if you are sure that there is not any plumbing in this wall, you may want to start looking for a roof leak. even if you have not had any rain, condensation on your roof could still be leaking down the wall. also check to see if there is any plumbing lines in your attic.

AGWhitehouse · 07-21-2011, 01:49 PM

Is there a brick/masonry chimney behind the wall? The cold block could condense moist air.

Like mike said, any plumbing above? Could be a slow leak or just condensation dripping from the pipe.

Like mike said, Any roof leak indications?

If all three are a no, then you may want to poke a hole and go looking. a 3' spot of moisture on an interior wall is suspicious and is coming from somewhere...

bonnie073104 · 07-21-2011, 02:02 PM

No Brick or Masonry behind the wall. On the other side of the wall, there is a vent - thingie (technical term) (the thing that either blows hot air or sucks in colder air in winter) for the furnace. I took it off so I could look into the wall. There is no pipe there (at least, not in that section between the studs, anyway).

Thanks for your help guys. It sounds like it is probably not simply condensation from the hot weather, but more likely to be a roof leak or pipes somewhere above...

mustangmike3789 · 07-21-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonnie073104

No Brick or Masonry behind the wall. On the other side of the wall, there is a vent - thingie (technical term) (the thing that either blows hot air or sucks in colder air in winter) for the furnace. I took it off so I could look into the wall. There is no pipe there (at least, not in that section between the studs, anyway).

Thanks for your help guys. It sounds like it is probably not simply condensation from the hot weather, but more likely to be a roof leak or pipes somewhere above...

yep, start looking in your attic for pipes or any signs of water marks near the area that is getting wet.

**Gary in WA** · 07-21-2011, 03:51 PM

"There is no pipe there (at least, not in that section between the studs, anyway)." ------- add a duct to the supply/return register to stop any condensation nearby in that joist/stud bay.

Gary