Serving Aripeka
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Aripeka, FL
Wind pushes rain sideways through window frames, stucco and the base of the wall. The roof can hold and the house still take water. The walls on the side the wind came from are traced first, at windows, sliders, the base of the wall and the soffits. Block that took on water is dried from inside the closed building rather than left to the outdoor air.
Shut off the water, then pick up the phone
Often needed alongside
- Humidity & Moisture Drying
When the outdoor air is wetter than the building, opening windows adds water. Drying means a closed building and conditioned air.
- Storm Surge & Tidal Flooding
Surge and tidal water rise from the ground up and carry salt and silt with them. Anything porous they soaked is treated as contaminated.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the air under a low-set Aripeka manufactured home stay so wet?
Some of Aripeka's homes are manufactured, and where an older one sits low on its piers, there is little room for air to move between the floor and the ground. That ground stands less than 3 feet above sea level and stays wet through the summer, and the cooled belly just above it gathers the water the still air gives up. Clear vents in the skirting let that air move.
Why do the screens and skirting of an Aripeka home stay damp after a windy day?
Aripeka's center lies about six-tenths of a mile from the open Gulf, and onshore wind carries salt that settles on screens, skirting and window frames. Salt draws water out of humid air, so those surfaces stay damp long after the wind drops, and the skirting holds that damp beside the space beneath the floor. Rinsing them with fresh water after a windy spell removes the salt.
Where does the steam go in an older Aripeka bathroom with no fan?
Where an older house was built without a bathroom exhaust fan, each shower's steam has only the room to settle in. It condenses on the coolest surfaces, the outside wall, the ceiling and the back of the door, and the cooling then has to pull it out of the whole house. A fan ducted outdoors, left running for a while after each shower, carries it away instead.
Aripeka's own page carries them beside the local figures.