Serving Miami
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Miami, 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 is there water in my Miami condo ceiling when nothing in my unit is leaking?
More than half of Miami's homes are in buildings of ten or more units, where air handlers and their condensate lines are stacked floor above floor. A line that clogs or a drain pan that overflows one or two floors up can travel through the ceiling cavity before it shows. Building management can say which units sit directly above yours, which narrows the search.
Can rain get through the walls of a Bay Shore block house?
It can. Deed restrictions in the Bay Shore district barred frame buildings, so the houses are masonry, mostly concrete block finished in stucco. Sound stucco sheds most rain, but a crack lets water into the block, and in a humid summer the wall gives it back slowly, often toward the inside. A damp patch or bubbling paint indoors usually points to the outside surface opposite it.
What happens to a Miami apartment left with the cooling off while the neighbors' units run?
The walls, floor and ceiling it shares with cooled apartments stay cool, while the air inside warms and takes on moisture from outdoors. Where that air meets those cooler shared surfaces, water condenses: on the floor under furniture, behind pictures on a party wall, inside closets. Setting the cooling higher rather than off keeps the air inside drier than the surfaces around it.
Each answer ties back to the Miami overview.