Serving Palm Harbor
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Palm Harbor, 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
Does Palm Harbor's Gulf side take on water differently from its Lake Tarpon side?
It does. The community lies between the Gulf of Mexico on the west and Lake Tarpon on the east. On the Gulf side, along St. Joseph's Sound, the water at the shore is the sea's. Lake Tarpon is fresh water held by a control structure that keeps salt water out at high tide, so a July storm on that side raises the lake rather than bringing in the sea.
What controls the level of Lake Tarpon near Palm Harbor?
An outfall canal and its water-control structure, completed in 1971 to help regulate flooding around Lake Tarpon and the lower sections of Brooker Creek. The structure also keeps salt water from entering the lake during high tides. Lake Tarpon is the largest lake in Pinellas County, about four square miles, so after a wet July the water it holds back is fresh.
Why do Crystal Beach houses near the Sound stay damp inside?
Crystal Beach was platted on a grid in 1912 along St. Joseph's Sound, between Avery and Sutherland bayous, and much of its shore is still lined with mangroves. A house close to that shore takes its outdoor air straight off the water. Wherever that air leaks into cooled rooms, around doors, windows or attic openings, it condenses on the coldest walls first.
Palm Harbor's own page carries them beside the local figures.