![]() ![]() Doing something silly like operating a swimming pool indoors puts a huge amount of water in the air. Others are cooking (especially boiling water), showering/bathing, or running a humidifier. Human breathing is actually a pretty big one. In the context of buildings, water in the air can come from a variety of sources. ![]() When that air contacts a relatively cold surface the water vapor turns into liquid water as if by magic (aka science). It’s water vapor (a gas) in the air but condenses into liquid water on the relatively cold surface of the glass, which is below the dew point.Ĭondensation and the dew point is another great topic for a future post, but for now suffice to say there can be a lot of water hiding in the air. Have you ever noticed water collecting on the outside of your cold beverage in the summertime, perhaps even making a puddle on the table below the glass? All that water comes from the air. The air can carry a surprising amount of water. Where else could water come from, you ask? Good question! It’s hiding in plain sight-it’s in the air! Water in the Air That’s a future post.īut for now let’s assume you’ve got the bulk water under control. ![]() Unfortunately, avoiding holes is pretty much impossible so we have all kinds of strategies to deal with that. Avoid holes in the envelope and you avoid liquid water infiltration. Water from precipitation enters the building envelope through holes. Liquid water infiltration comes from precipitation (i.e. Liquid water infiltration comes from precipitation. Bulk Water (Rain & Snow)īefore we talk about some less-obvious ways that water moves and collects in buildings, we’ll start with the obvious one: protecting moisture-sensitive building components from exposure to liquid water starts with controlling liquid water. In this post we’ll explore some less-than-obvious ways that water ends up where it can cause problems. Unfortunately nature conspires to foil our water control efforts in a variety of ways. The main goal of the building envelope is to protect these moisture-sensitive components from exposure to water. We call these parts of the building-the ones damaged by water-the “moisture-sensitive” components. Gypsum that once formed solid panels turns to mud. Wood rots, steel corrodes, masonry spalls and cracks, microbes and fungi grow. Water causes all kinds of trouble with many building materials. One could boil down our job as enclosure consultants to this: help people to keep water from accumulating where it shouldn’t. ![]()
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