Serving Plant City
Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Plant City, 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 makes an enclosed front porch in an old Plant City house feel damp?
Its floor was built for the outdoors. Many porches in the downtown historic district have been partly or fully enclosed, and where the porch floor rests on piers, damp air still moves beneath boards that now sit under a cooled room. Water condenses on their underside through the summer. Insulating and sealing the underside of the porch floor keeps that air off it.
How does drop siding on an old Plant City frame house hold rain?
The district's frame houses were mostly sided in weatherboard or drop siding, and each lap is a small ledge. Where the paint has worn, June rain caught at those laps soaks into the boards and swells them, and humid air dries them slowly. Paint that peels along the laps rather than across the boards is the usual sign.
Which houses in Plant City's downtown historic district sit on brick piers?
Most of the frame vernacular houses, which usually rest on a brick pier foundation, and many bungalows have porch columns set on brick piers. Bungalows and frame vernacular houses make up 78 percent of the district's single-family homes. A raised floor on piers leaves outdoor air beneath it, so the underside of the floor is where summer condensation collects.
Back to Plant City for the housing and weather behind them.