I recently moved into a newly built home. We were told by the concrete foundation guys that we will be pulling moisture out of the foundation for about a year. Is this true or does it sound like BS/CYA kind of stuff? We have only been here a few months but I am starting to really wonder.
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Bump - It truly happens, but I don't know about duration...
Lots of factors there. In theory, a perfect mix of concrete shouldn't have any excess water - it all gets used up in the chemical reaction that hardens the stuff. Perfect mixes are too stiff to place readily, so there's usually excess water. How persistent that is depends on the weather after the forms were stripped, if there's waterproofing, and so on. Location matters, too. I'd be surpised if you've got humidity problems in Tuscon, and surprised if you didn't in Baltimore.
It's just as likely that humidity in a new house is coming from green lumber framing materials as concrete.
Throw a dehumidifier in the basement if humidity is a problem.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Thanks for the info. The dehumidifier that is there pulls out almost a full tank a day. The basement humidity is 60%, the main floor is 55-60%, and the upstairs, is 70%. Granted, it's been hot and humid outside, but , you can feel the difference. Anyone with comments about the hvac and how that may relate? We have geothermal. One unit upstairs, and the main one downstairs. Thanks.
Residential HVAC equipment is not designed to pull humidity out of materials in the home quickly, but it will do that over time.
It is designed to regulate humidity for comfort, and it will do that only if it is sized right.
If you want to pull humidity out of the structure quicker than it will come out by itself, then you need to look into commercial style dehumidification equipment for rent. The stuff used to dry out homes/buildings after a storm/flood.
The best thing for you to do is to use fans to move the air in, around, and out of the house, during periods of "moderate" temps and humidity.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
You don't run it with windows open, do you?Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
You didn't say in what part of the country you are located. The general answer to question, in my experience in the Midwest, is a year is a reasonable number. Here, through the first winter is the time to really dry out a structure that is not getting unintended inputs of moisture.
It's true. In a new house you get moisture from the concrete, drywall, and lumber. Takes a year or so for things to "normalize".
Of course, if you can see spots that get wetter-darker on the concrete when it rains a lot, that's moisture coming through from outside.
Related topic: It's axiomatic that the builder did a lousy job of grading. Make sure there's nowhere around the house (within 15 feet at least) where water stands after a rain. Make sure the soil within about 5 feet of the house is sloped to drain away from the house (and expect to have to add more soil in 2-3 years after things settle a bit).
He's right. The amount of moisture can be considerable, like DanH said.
H,
Some of that is going to depend on how well the HVAC system distributes air in the basement & your local environmental conditions. Just as a point of comparison, we live in a 30 yr old house with a completely unfinished basement. No moisture seepage problems in the basement walls & floor at all, but there are just a few a/c vents there to keep the air circulating to a limited extent. I keep a dehumidifier in the back corner and still have to empty it daily in all but the driest weather.
bd