Serving Key West
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Key West, 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.
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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 do the floorboards of a closed Key West frame house feel damp in the fall?
A closed wood frame house raised on piers lets outdoor air move freely beneath it and rise through the gaps between the floorboards into rooms with no cooling running, and about one Key West home in seven is held for seasonal use. By the fall the boards, rugs and furniture legs have taken up a summer of that air. Running the cooling for a few days before judging the floor lets it settle.
In an older Key West house, where does a ductless wall unit's water end up?
Each indoor head of a ductless system pulls water from the room's air and sends it out through a small drain line. Where one has been added to a house of the late 1960s, that line may run down inside the wall to an outlet outdoors. If it kinks, sags or slips off its fitting, the water runs into the wall cavity instead. Soft drywall or a stain below an indoor head points to its line.
What do salt wind and rain do to the porch of a Key West house?
The city's center lies about a mile from the open coast, and September's rain arrives on wind carrying salt off the water. On a raised frame house the porch floor and steps take that rain first, and where they meet the house wall, water and salt gather at the joint. Salt holds moisture from the humid air, so the boards there stay wet between storms. Keeping that joint flashed and painted protects the wall.
Each answer ties back to the Key West overview.