Serving Balm
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Balm, 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.
Switch off the air handler if it is dripping
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
How can a yard that sloped away from a new Balm house end up sending water toward it?
Through the fill. A recent house stands on soil hauled in and packed around its foundation, and that soil keeps settling for several wet seasons. The median Balm house was built in 2014, so many yards are still in that stage. Where the strip beside the wall sinks below the lawn beyond it, August's rain collects against the slab edge and the base of the stucco instead of running off.
Can an open walk-in shower make a newer Balm bedroom damp?
Yes, when it has no door. A shower that size puts a great deal of steam into the bathroom, and with nothing to hold it there, the steam drifts into the bedroom and the closet beyond. It meets the coldest surfaces, the supply grilles and the walls nearest them, and turns back into water. A bath fan ducted outdoors and run during and well after each shower carries most of it away.
What becomes of a Balm septic system in a stormy August?
It fills the ground the drain field depends on. Balm has 124 homes with septic systems on record, and at about 98 feet above sea level the land is well above any tide, yet a week of heavy August rain still leaves the soil around the trenches full. Household water then leaves the tank more slowly, and the tub or shower lowest in the house is the first to drain sluggishly.
For the figures behind these answers, see Balm.