DIYbanter - View Single Post - Moisture in walls

Lar

In article ,
says...
I have moisture in walls in a three spots. This is a concrete house. One wall has
red brick inside but it is encased in concrete.

I wrote here earlier. I think I know what is causing it but I am asking what to
do about it.

I've located three places - two inside walls and one outside. The outside wall
has a stucco layer that has a crack. I supposed water is seeping in from outside.
Paint inside show discoloration. The outside patio is often wet and water may
pool there. The house in on a slope and it rains here a lot around the year and
freezes in winter.

The moist spot in the two inside walls are near downspouts that go through the
house and though the bottom slab into drainage.

One downspout shows slight leaking (there is rust in the sealing). The downspout
is insulated but near the rust part it is not and it shows a lot of sweating
(condensation) during cold weather.

The other inside wall has had its downspout replaced years before and the
downspout looks OK. I believe that it had the same problem and previous owners
had it replaced to lessen the moist. Anyway the wall shows moist about feet
upwards from the floor. The floor is parquet and shows no moist.

I've gotten the moist levels using a moisture meter. The moist rises to about a
feet or less and cover an area of about a square feet.

I don't think this is a problem with leaking water. The water lines go near the
places but are situated under the parquet floor which is dry. And the problem may
have developed over the years as the previous occupants have done something to
stop it.

Lets assume the moist came from leaking and sweating downspouts. One is fixed and
I'll fix the other too. How do I get the moist out of the wall? I carved a good
part away. The concrete had become porous and was easy to chisel away. Luckily
these walls do not carry weight. How long can it take to dry out? Inside the
house the moisture levels is dry 40% in winter but 50%-60% in summer. I am also
consider just replacing the moist wall parts with new concrete. Would that just
add to moist?

Can the moist say there for years as it appears to have been at least in the
first wall? Areas near the current moist places show water damaged which has
dried up. An inspector took a look at the problem and said there is no mold.

Also check the grade around the structure to make sure the soil line is
not above the foundation. I am not sure what the moisture reading is for
sure, but some termite companies locate termite activity by using
moisture reading meters.

--
Lar
---- to email get rid of the BUGS!