For most individuals, your home is your largest long-term investment.  Did you know there could be serious structural damage occuring that could drastically reduce the value of your investment?  Many homes suffer from unrecognized moisture damage that, if unchecked, can lead to mold, rotting and termites.  Moisture-related problems can eat and rot away the structural components of your largest investment.    Modern home construction practices that emphasize energy-efficiency air leakage techniques can often lead to excessive moisture being trapped in the house.  In cold winter climates, high levels of indoor humidity caused by human activity can lead to serious moisture problems in windows and walls.  Even cold air during rainy weather brings mold condusive moisture into your crawlspace.  In warm humid climates, problems result from moist, humid outside air entering the home.  Damp crawl spaces or leaky roofs can cause additional moisture control issues.

One of the most serious threats to the value of your home is what is commonly referred to as "wood rot".  Many people use the misnomer "dry rot" to describe wood rot.  Wood does not rot when it is dry, it rots when it is moist.  The decaying of wood, or wood rot, is brought about by microscopic fungi that feed on natural substances such as wood.  Millions of tiny spores are scattered by the wind and they eventually settle down and colonize on a suitable surface.  This surface requires temperatures between 40-100 degrees and sufficient moisture.  These fungi, once attached, secrete enzymes that break down the wood so it can be used as food.  This process begins whenever water gets into cracks or penetrates a wood finish and is unable to dry.  Wood with a moisture content of 20% and above is susceptible to decay.  When wood is rotting, it has a molted, dark to grayish-white appearance.Identifying early home moisture damage and its sources requires knowing what to look for a where.  Some potential trouble spots for water damage include:

• roofing
• plumbing
• HVAC systems
• door & window seals
• gutters & downspouts
• landscape grade changes
• standing water in basements and crawlspaces 

If you suspect you have a moisture problem in your home, you should be on the lookout for:

• condensation on windows and/or water pipes
• wet stains on walls and ceilings
• peeling or blistering of exterior paint
• rusting metals
• musty smells
• white spots on leather items such as shoes and coats
• deterioration of insulation

Another hazard your home may face without adequate moisture control is pests like wood borers and termites.  Just the mention of termites can strike fear into a homeowner.  There are many different varieties of wood-eating beetles described as borers.  These beetles cause damage by laying their eggs in moist wood and when the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the wood.  Although wood borers present problems, it is termites that cause the most destruction.  Termites cause billions of dollars in property damage every year.  There are over 2,000 species of termites throughout the world.  The natural food of termites is cellulose, the major component of the cell walls of trees.  Many times, there will be no visible evidence of termite infestation in a home.  Termites are cryptic creatures and their presence can go undetected for years.  Warm, moist, humid environments provide the optimum living conditions for wood eating pests.  Tell-tale signs of termite infestation include:

• wings or sawdust near windows, door frames, foundations or garages     
• buckling paint or tiny holes in wood
• mud tunnels along the foundation of the house - mud tunnels typically are about the diameter of a pencil 

Another place in your home with the potential for moisture problems is the crawlspace.  Crawl spaces are found in many regions of the United States, but are particularly evident along coastal areas.  Many times this is because high water tables prohibit the building of basements.  It is estimated that 25% of all new home construction in the southern United States are built on crawlspaces.  One of the biggest problems with crawl spaces in southern climates is that high humidity levels contribute to mold growth and wood decay.    Crawl space moisture problems usually begin because of improper grading and/or drainage around the house that lead to wet soil or puddled water.  When this moisture evaporates, it can increase the relative humidity that in turn increases the moisture content of the wood framing and floors.  This additional moisture often wafts upwards into the home, increasing indoor humidity levels.  There has been a consensus for decades that ground covers in crawlspaces effectively reduce moisture and humidity in the crawl space and in the building.  A number of studies, from the 1940’s-1990’s have determined that using a crawl space dehumidifiers eliminates the possibility of mold on the plastic ground cover by producing an unfavorable environment for mold growth.    One of the surest ways to combat excessive moisture in your home is to build a vapor barrier in your crawl space equipped with a quality dehumidifier.  In upcoming blogs we will show you how to build a vapor barrier and how to choose the correct crawlspace dehumidifier.