Serving Miami Beach
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Miami 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
Why does one wall of an older Miami Beach condo stay damp all summer?
Nearly four in five Miami Beach homes are in buildings of ten or more units. Where an older tower is cooled with chilled water piped up through the floors, the riser runs inside the walls. If its insulation has split, the cold pipe sweats, and the water soaks the wall from within along the riser's path. Building engineers can say where the risers run.
Why does rain stand so long on the ground floor of a Miami Beach building?
Miami Beach is a barrier island, and the city describes its subsurface as porous limestone with high groundwater, affected by the surrounding bay and ocean. A heavy rain has little dry ground to soak into, so it collects where the building is lowest: lobbies, garages, parking levels and elevator pits. Those are the places to check after a September storm.
Why does a seasonal Miami Beach unit's air handler overflow in its first week back?
About one Miami Beach home in five is held for seasonal use. While a unit's system sits idle, its condensate line dries out and whatever was in it settles and hardens. When the cooling restarts in the fall, the coil sends water down a line that can no longer carry it, and the pan overflows. Flushing the line before switching the system on avoids it.
Miami Beach's own page carries them beside the local figures.