Our house is too humid

Is this a new house for you? Did you just move, or is this a new problem? Was it humid this summer, or just now that its fall? Do you have a humidity gage, or just going by feel? Whats the difference between inside/outside humidity?

Michael

Ahhh, empirical data, so underrated in today's world...

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It could just be a matter of air exchange. We just moved to a new apt Sept 1st. It was very high humidity a within a few days of us moving in, 95% as a matter of fact. No bathroom fan and no fan over the stove. A few days using a de-humidifier brought it down to 60% which I maintain by opening the kitchen window when cooking and the living room window once a day for fresh air.

We moved here in January. Don't know the humidity. Do know that it's humid because there is mildew on the inside of the toilet lids. It has been a very hot and humid summer. We've had a lot of rain this year.

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Are your toilet lids sitting over a bowl of water? That could be the source of your humidity. Try bleach diluted with water 10:1 once a week should solve the problem, or one of those clorinated hockey pucks in the tank might be enough (don't know if those are okay for septic tanks or not...)

Did you run your A/C constantly, what temp? If you had it set on the high 70's turning to the mid 70's may help. Ours A/C pulls out an amazing amount of water, probably 5 gallons or so a day (evidenced by the puddle on the basement floor when the condensation tube stopped up)

Do you cook/can a lot? A canning session or spagetti dinner can put a lot of moisture in the air real quick, especially in a smaller home...

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Don't go with the cheapest exhaust fans you can get, go with more powerful ones. When we moved in this house the master bath had an exhaust fan but it was inadequate, the mirror would still fog up and sometimes walls would get wet from moisture during a shower. A good 120CFM fan cured that. Also, make sure your installer uses smooth wall vent pipe and slopes it properly toward the outside of the house. The old fans in our house were installed with corrugated flex pipe which collected water, and sloped back to the fan so the water ran back and damaged the ceiling drywall. It's also advisable to insulate over the vent pipe if it runs in an unheated attic to help prevent condensation.

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Roof vent, roof vent, roof vent! Excess humidity is a bi-product of energy conservation. Used to be 2 or 3 small roof vents for average sized homes. That was adequate for houses with a lot of other means to circulate interior air such as leaky windows, doors, and even electrical outlets. Then came wall and ceiling insulation which virtually seals everything inside the home. My house has rapidly become one of few on the block which still has the square vents about a third of the way down from the ridge. The new style vents are now the full length along the ridge. That's the latest improvement in home air quality. With my shingles being but 11-12 years old, and should be good for 25, won't see the new vent system for awhile.

Martin

If you have the means, you might want to invest in turning the crawl space into a conditioned, sealed space. I build new homes with these, and they are bone dry, and consequently so is the house. You can either DIY, or contract the installation of a very heavy duty vapor barrier. The company I use installs a bright blue product that is almost like a pool liner, and is sealed with a special 4" wide tape. The product is installed "bathtub" style and secured to the walls. If done properly, it would hold a foot of water . Next block off any vent with plywood, and caulk them tight. The most important part in next. Have a foam insulator spray 1-1/2" of ureathane foam over the vertical edge of the plastic, up the wall, over the sill, band joist and to the bottom of the flooring. Now install a dehumidifer and let it run on high for a few months. The space soon turns as dry as a mummy's tomb and stays that way. Good luck. Given that these techniques have been used sucessfully for well over 30 years, there is no excuse for anybody building a vented crawlspace with a dirt floor anymore. The energy saving, lack of unhealthy mold, and preservation of the structure make it a cheap investment in the end.

Martin, mushroom vents are very regional. Here in the northeast they only appear on mobile homes. Full length ridge venting has been standard procedure for at least the last 25-30 yrs. In the past they were aluminum and visible. Now there are several styles of shingle over products in use. That said, they need to be combined with full soffit venting and proper baffle trays to allow air-flow at the rafter/ceiling joist area. Full ridge venting with large gable end vents can lead to some issues of over-ventilation and will pack the attic full of snow in rare cases. As for the "latest" in air quality.....well maybe not. It's quite possible to build a home that is as tight as a thermos, costs little, or nothing to heat, and has great indoor air quality. It isn't the cheapest, easiest thing to do, but it happens all the time.