Serving Delray Beach
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Delray Beach, 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
What should a Delray Beach seasonal owner check when the house is opened in the fall?
About one home in nine in Delray Beach is held for seasonal use. A house or condominium closed through the summer with the cooling set high takes on the outdoor humidity for months, and it shows on the coolest surfaces: closet walls, the backs of furniture against outside walls, the undersides of mattresses. Once the cooling is back on, its condensate drain carries that water away, so it needs to be clear.
How do the old houses in Delray Beach's Marina district take on water?
The Marina Historic District's 1920s houses are largely wood frame and hollow tile walls under stucco, set on continuous concrete foundations. Rain that gets through a crack in the stucco can reach both the tile and the wood framing behind it, and with the Intracoastal Waterway at the end of the street, the humid summer air does little to draw it back out.
Why do walls near the Delray Beach shoreline stay damp?
The city's four miles of beach sit on a barrier island east of the Intracoastal. Onshore wind carries salt from the surf onto stucco, window frames and screens, and salt left in a surface keeps drawing moisture from humid air, so those walls hold water longer than walls set back from the water. Rinsing salt off exposed walls and frames after a windy spell removes what keeps them damp.
Back to Delray Beach for the housing and weather behind them.