moisture problem-I recently built a ranch with a walk-out basement. 2×6 walls, 16 oc with 1/2″ plywood, Dow Weathermate Plus housewrap and vinyl siding. There are R-19 batts in the walls and blockers at the ends of the floor trusses used. The batts have a poly vapor barrier. The homeowner is using a wood stove in the basement. There is a huge moisture behind some of the batts and blockers. A dehumidifier has not helped. Any suggestions as to what might be causing this problem. I have been building for 20+ years and have never encountered a problem like this and am stumped. Thanks for any advice.
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Photos might be helpful to access the situation but here is my two cents worth. Condensation equals water vapor below the dewpoint. As many others have said fiberlgass with air infiltration does not work real well as an effective insulation. I might guess that in the area where the condensation is showing up warm moist air from the inside is getting behind the vapor barrier and being condensed by cooler oustide air. The vapor barrier is not allowing the moisture to evaporate back into the interior. Much has been wriitten by others regarding vapor barriers on walls below grade. A general note for new homes is they have very high moisture levels and take nearly a year to satabalize to a normal level. Is the home owner is storing any amount of firewood inside the home interior? This can be a source of unwanted moisture. Inside storage of firewood is not reccomended. I burn wood at my house but only keep about a day's supply of firewood on hand inside my house at any one time. Roger
How do you know the condensation is there?
happy?
New houses generate a massive amt of water.
Crete is curing still and moisture coming off it.
Framing lumber is kiln dried only to 19% syrfacce but the interior can be still wetter than that, and you mnay have had some rains adding moisture while you built.
The owner is getting that firewood in the house somehow. It might not bne perfectly dry wood. That means there are many hundreds of gallons in a cord. The wood stove is sucking replacement air into the house, meaning that some drafts could be creating dew points in the walls especially if the exterior is not finished yet.
Any other activity is briunging water into the house, which is somehow being carried to the wall sheathing through an imperfect VB.
Somebody asked how you know this is happening. This implies that the space where it is observable is also a space where moisture is being carried on air to the sheathing to condense.
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