Serving Lithia
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Lithia, 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 leaves a damp patch low on an interior wall of a two-story house near Lithia?
Much of the housing around Lithia is recent, and where a two-story house has its upstairs air handler in a hall closet, the condensate line may run down inside an interior wall to a drain below. Every hour the cooling runs, that line carries water, and a joint that slips or cracks soaks the wall from inside. A damp patch directly below the air handler closet points to it.
What is the metal strip at the bottom of the stucco on a house near Lithia for?
That is the weep screed, the edge where the stucco stops a few inches above the ground. It lets any rain that gets behind the stucco drain out at the bottom of the wall. Where sod, mulch or pavers have been built up over it, that water has no way out, and the base of the wall stays wet through August. Keeping the strip clear lets it work.
Where should the downspouts on a house near Lithia empty?
Well away from the wall. Where a downspout ends at the foundation, every August downpour drops the water from a whole section of roof at one corner of the house, and it soaks the base of the stucco and the slab edge there. An extension or splash block that carries it a few feet out, onto ground sloping away, keeps that corner from staying wet between storms.
Each answer ties back to the Lithia overview.