Forty one stories up in newly renovated apt., all very high end. Windows, starting 3′ off floor to top of ceiling, (9′ & 10′). are all the way around the outer walls of the apt. with walls facing east & south. The finished steel frames are sweating bad enough to run onto the expensive wall coverings below. The sills are steel as well. Sometimes the sun is very intense, other times it’s c-c-c-cold up there. Climate control is throughout the apt, but they still sweat.
Designer wants to wrap all of this in wood.
I’m up in the air (literally) about it. If I glued wood to the frames and they were painted or finished & sealed, would this not stop them from sweating? I would be stopping the condensed air, no?
Don’t want wood rot above Philadelphia here.
Solutions?
Replies
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. There WILL be condensation behind the wood, if you install it. But if you seal around the edges of the wood well enough there won't be as much condensation as now.
But in Philly it doesn't get that cold for that long, so the arrangement might have time to "recover" between episodes.
Of course the other thing to do is to check the humidity in the place. It may be high -- shouldn't be above about 40%, and lower in the coldest weather.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't."That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Thanks for the reply.
What about using pvc (azek or similar). Relative same workability and no absorption of the probable moisture.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Thin foambd first, then wood rap?
But, I'm assuming glazing set from the inside? Need to be able to reaccess later.
or do they set glazing from the ext. that far up?
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Isn't one reason for using steel frames so they are thin and the glass is maximized?
My first house had steel windows in So Cal. Nice veiw out of them.
The way the steel is so skinny it really opens the window up.
If you wrap the windows that look will be changed.
Will Rogers
They are not sweating due to metal but because there is too much moisture in the air
Yeah, I think you're right.
Steel is a better conductor of temperatures and also when the sun comes in on that south & east exposure, there is heat built up just inside of where the windows are, but the steel frames will stay cold, therefore there will be condensation on those frames pretty much guaranteed. My thought is to thermally seal the frames with a material that is non-conductive and water tight.The design of how it's going to look is not up to me.