Household Repairs You can't see condensation—water vapor—except when it collects on your windows. But it is likely to be the cause of— rotting timbers in the attic rotting joists in the floor over a crawl space rotting sills in a crawl space blistered and peeling paint on the outside walls of a wood house falling plaster stained and loose wallpaper There are four ways to stop this invisible menace.

1.  Reduce humidity in the house. You can do this by improving housekeeping practices (for instance, cover pots on the stove; use as little water as possible when mopping floors). But you should also equip sinks, lavatories, tubs, and showers with mixing faucets so that you will not saturate the air with steam. Cover the ground in unexcavated areas under the house with 55-lb. roofing felt laid with 2" lapped joints or with heavy polyethylene film.

2.  Improve ventilation. You probably have a ventilating fan in the kitchen. Install one in the laundry, too. And consider putting fans in the bathrooms.

Increase the size of screened ventilating openings under the roof and in all unexcavated areas, or install additional openings. This is a job which calls for an expert who fully understands the rules for sizing ventilators. (If you can't find such, write to the Superintendent of Documents in Washington for the House & Home Finance Agency's booklet, "Condensation Control.")




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November 20, 2008