Serving Clearwater
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Clearwater, 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
Why did a Clearwater condo closet flood when the air handler drain was clear?
More than a third of Clearwater's homes are in buildings of ten or more units. Where a building cools each unit with a water-source heat pump, the unit is joined to a shared water loop by two hoses in its closet. A hose that splits, or a fitting that lets go, keeps spilling loop water until the valves are shut, into the closet and through the ceiling below.
What wets the wall beneath a Clearwater balcony door after a July storm?
Rain sinks quickly into Clearwater's ground, about 65 feet above sea level, so a ground-floor wall that is wet after a storm usually traces to water from above. Where a balcony slab has settled or was poured pitched toward the building, rain runs back to the sliding door and the joint beneath it, and into the wall of the unit below. Water standing at the door shows it.
Can a bath fan make a closed Clearwater condo damper?
It can. About one Clearwater home in ten is held for seasonal use. A bath fan left running on a timer in a closed unit pushes air out, and the same amount comes back in through any gap it finds, around doors, outlets and pipes. That replacement air is the summer's humid air, and it settles in rooms where the cooling is set high and runs only now and then.
For the figures behind these answers, see Clearwater.