Serving Gibsonton
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Gibsonton, 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.
Say where the water came from when you call
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 does wet ground near sea level reach the ducts of a Gibsonton manufactured home?
Because the ground beneath it is wet. More than a quarter of Gibsonton's homes are manufactured, on ground only about 5 feet above sea level, and in the wet season the water table rises close beneath the soil. The air inside the skirting picks up that water and meets the cooled ducts in the belly, so water forms on them and collects in the wrap.
Can rain soak through the wall of a newer Gibsonton block house?
It can, once the paint has worn. On a house of around 2002 with stucco over block, the paint film is what sheds the rain. When it chalks thin, wind-driven summer storms wet the stucco and the block behind it, and with the cooled rooms inside, the wall holds that water rather than giving it back to the humid air. Repainting closes it.
How does salt from the coast reach a Gibsonton manufactured home?
On the wind. Gibsonton's center lies about a mile from the open coast, and onshore wind carries salt that settles on the skirting, the belly wrap and the steel frame. Salt draws water out of humid air and holds it, so those surfaces stay damp on nights when nothing else is wet, right against the cooled floor of the home.
Back to Gibsonton for the housing and weather behind them.