Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3 years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in the
upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and only in
the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks

What is the humidity in your house Do you vent well in the aittic,
are they single pane CRAP needing replacement????

Hi Chucky,
The excessive condensation on your windows could ba an R-rated
problem...are you double or triple pane windows....I know double pain
windows almost certainly condensat as I live in sask and had that problem.
Your bathroom fan is a no brainer. It is the steam from the shower being
vented into the attic through a "Dryer vent " type pipe. The simple thing of
hot meeting cold causes the drip. Yes, wrapping the vent pipe with some
insulation will help somewhat. Jim

"Chucky D" wrote in message
...
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having
to wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here
now , and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it
gets really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3
years old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in
the upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and
only in the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks

A lot of water condensation is a symptom of too much humidity inside.
Do you have a humidifier, either stand alone or furnace mounted adding
moisture?
Having one that is set too high will definitely cause problems. If
it's just happening
on one window, it might be a bad window seal, but that should be
obvious as moisture
shows up between the panes. If it's happening on most windows, then
there is too
much moisture in the house and it has to be coming from somewhere.

For the bathroom fan, adding insulation around the vent pipe should
help, as it
will keep the cold attic air from directly reaching the pipe, so it
should reduce
condensation. Also, make sure it's vented correctly outside and not
directly into
the attic.

In any event, you need to get this resolved because a lot of
condensation can cause serious
problems. It's also getting wet where you can't see, behind wall,
around recessed lights that
extend into cold attic space, etc.

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 17:28:01 -0500, "Chucky D"
wrote:

Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3 years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in the
upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and only in
the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks


By lowering the humidity in the house you'll get less condensate.
Water vapor will always seek colder temperatures and move away from
higher temperature areas. Increasing air circulation, especially
near the windows will help. Try running a small fan onto a window
for a 24 hour period and compare windows.

It dropped to 10 degrees Sunday night, and I had to wipe all the
sills. I recall making soup that day, and the added humidity in the
house condensed onto the windows.

Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be
having to wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is
winter here now , and it seems to get worse in the really cold
weather. But when it gets really cold it freezes on the inside. We
have a fairly new home(3 years old) could this be just a caulking
problem or some thing worse?. I am also having a little bit of water drip
through the Ceiling Fan
in the upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a
shower, and only in the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks

When the dew point for the humidity in your home is higher than the
temperature of the window or window frame, you will get condensation.

The solution is to raise the temperature of the window or lower the
humidity.

Taking the humidity down to far will be uncomfortable and maybe
unhealthy. Much below 40% is generally static and scratchy throat time.

Better windows (two or three pane) and better insulated frames will also
help. Putting drapes or shades over the windows just complicates the
situation. It adds insulation without stopping the moisture so the windows
are actually colder since the are not warmed as much by the room air, yet
the drapes or shades do not stop moisture.

Have fun. Look at the windows with shades (look behind the shades) and
see how they are the worse cases and may even be iced over. Same thing will
happen in an un-heated or under-heated room.


--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3 years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in the
upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and only in
the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks




I feel your pain brother. I'm in a 7 year old house that I bought last
year. Awesome house; except for the window situation. They're all Pella
vinyl out/wood interior casements; and they sweat like hell; the water
runs down into the seals and freezes on the wood frame. The wood is
rotting slowly by the day. It makes me want to cry.

I'm in the process of trying to find a good experienced heating guy (not
just a furnace part changer) to help me identify the particular issues
with my house humidity and figure out how to correct them.

I've yet to find a pattern to make the windows stop sweating. sometimes
it will be one window, but not the one 1 foot away. (They're grouped in
pairs...
http://today.icantfocus.com/blog/ima...ic/1259827.jpg)

We just got the fireplace/chimney cleaned. Sometimes burning a fire,
causing air circulation through the second floor and leaving the flu
open all night, will cause the second floor to have a low humidity
works. Sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes the second floor will actually be the same high temp/low
humidity as the first floor; most of the times not. (Yes, the duct
baffles are open).

Then of course, the original owner put a lot of $ into the woodwork.
Oak trim all around; solid oak doors. Hardwood floors. And we've got
amish made heavy oak furniture. So, there's only so low we can go with
the humidity.

On top of that, who knows what in the hell the builder did. The first
owner ****ed him off so much that they started doing stupid stuff out of
spite I think. They never flashed the siding under the deck, so heavy
rains run behind the friggin siding and in between the window and the
header, leaking into the basement. The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless. The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor. The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs. The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets) is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge instead 12 gauge like everything else; and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot. Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people. I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/

As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)

Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system issues.

-=Chris

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:16:06 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:

Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3 years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in the
upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and only in
the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks




I feel your pain brother. I'm in a 7 year old house that I bought last
year. Awesome house; except for the window situation. They're all Pella
vinyl out/wood interior casements; and they sweat like hell; the water
runs down into the seals and freezes on the wood frame. The wood is
rotting slowly by the day. It makes me want to cry.

I'm in the process of trying to find a good experienced heating guy (not
just a furnace part changer) to help me identify the particular issues
with my house humidity and figure out how to correct them.

I've yet to find a pattern to make the windows stop sweating. sometimes
it will be one window, but not the one 1 foot away. (They're grouped in
pairs...
http://today.icantfocus.com/blog/ima...ic/1259827.jpg)

We just got the fireplace/chimney cleaned. Sometimes burning a fire,
causing air circulation through the second floor and leaving the flu
open all night, will cause the second floor to have a low humidity
works. Sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes the second floor will actually be the same high temp/low
humidity as the first floor; most of the times not. (Yes, the duct
baffles are open).

Then of course, the original owner put a lot of $ into the woodwork.
Oak trim all around; solid oak doors. Hardwood floors. And we've got
amish made heavy oak furniture. So, there's only so low we can go with
the humidity.

On top of that, who knows what in the hell the builder did. The first
owner ****ed him off so much that they started doing stupid stuff out of
spite I think. They never flashed the siding under the deck, so heavy
rains run behind the friggin siding and in between the window and the
header, leaking into the basement. The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless. The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor. The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs. The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets) is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge instead 12 gauge like everything else; and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot. Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people. I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/

As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)

Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system issues.

-=Chris

You'll need to correct any problems you can but look into the link
below. Id recommend the ERV unit
Honeywell or Aprilaire.
Bubba
http://www.pureairsystems.com/university_202.cfm

Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be
having to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here
now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it
gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3
years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan
in the
upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and
only in
the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks

Window condensation depends on how cold the inside surface of the
windows are and how high the indoor humidity is.

The better the window, the higher the indoor humidity before you get
condensation. Some windows use metal spacers between the glass panes
and this short circuits the cold. U-shaped condensation.

To lower your indoor humidity you need to ventilate the house. Cold
outside air is dry air. So if you exhaust some humid indoor air and
replace it with cold dry air, you will drop your humidity. HRVs will do
this for you, and the heat from the exhaust air, warms up the cold dry
air.

Exhaust fans contolled by dehumidistats will do this as well. They used
to sell a "Humidex" system.

When you exhaust air form tight homes, you can cause furnaces to down
draft.

Make sure there are no un-neccesary moisture sources inside the home as
well. An example is hang drying laundry in the basement. Sounds dumb
but happens.

Try http://www.hrai.ca/ and see if they can give you the name of hvac
guys who have a clue about mechanical ventilation in your area.

As others have said the bathroom fan sounds like there is condensation
in the exhaust duct. Perhaps not enough insulation or maybe it is
venting straight up through the roof and it condensates in the roof
jack and falls right back down.

You'll need to correct any problems you can but look into the link
below. Id recommend the ERV unit
Honeywell or Aprilaire.
Bubba
http://www.pureairsystems.com/university_202.cfm


Yeah, I figured that was probably in for some type of heat/air
exchanger. How much is a typical ERV like that?

I guess my only other concern is the actual air flow to the two worst
rooms.

We keep the two adjoind bedroom doors shut to seperate pets. That's not
helping the situation either.

-=Chris

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:08:55 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:


You'll need to correct any problems you can but look into the link
below. Id recommend the ERV unit
Honeywell or Aprilaire.
Bubba
http://www.pureairsystems.com/university_202.cfm


Yeah, I figured that was probably in for some type of heat/air
exchanger. How much is a typical ERV like that?

Prices vary due to installation costs. Call your local hvac co and ask
them.


I guess my only other concern is the actual air flow to the two worst
rooms.

We keep the two adjoind bedroom doors shut to seperate pets. That's not
helping the situation either.

-=Chris

Get rid of the pets. They belong in a garage or outside. Yes you can
heat the garage or heat a dog house. If pets were meant to live in
homes they would have jobs and money.
Dont even ask me about cats. They dont even belong in the garage.
Bubba

From: "Christopher H. Laco"


Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having
to
wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here now ,
and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it gets
really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3 years
old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in the

upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and only in

the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks




I feel your pain brother. I'm in a 7 year old house that I bought last
year. Awesome house; except for the window situation. They're all Pella
vinyl out/wood interior casements; and they sweat like hell; the water
runs down into the seals and freezes on the wood frame. The wood is
rotting slowly by the day. It makes me want to cry.

I'm in the process of trying to find a good experienced heating guy (not
just a furnace part changer) to help me identify the particular issues
with my house humidity and figure out how to correct them.

I've yet to find a pattern to make the windows stop sweating. sometimes
it will be one window, but not the one 1 foot away. (They're grouped in
pairs...
http://today.icantfocus.com/blog/ima...ic/1259827.jpg)

We just got the fireplace/chimney cleaned. Sometimes burning a fire,
causing air circulation through the second floor and leaving the flu
open all night, will cause the second floor to have a low humidity
works. Sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes the second floor will actually be the same high temp/low
humidity as the first floor; most of the times not. (Yes, the duct
baffles are open).

Your home probably suffers from being too damn tight.

You need to exhaust the excessive humidity from bathrooms and kitchen and
possible introduce an outdoor air exchanger.


Then of course, the original owner put a lot of $ into the woodwork.
Oak trim all around; solid oak doors. Hardwood floors. And we've got
amish made heavy oak furniture. So, there's only so low we can go with
the humidity.

On top of that, who knows what in the hell the builder did. The first
owner ****ed him off so much that they started doing stupid stuff out of
spite I think. They never flashed the siding under the deck, so heavy
rains run behind the friggin siding and in between the window and the
header, leaking into the basement.

Typical builder f/u especially when the owner decides for a deck extra after
the siding is complete.

The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless.

Simple fix as it sounds like 1 traveller and the common wires have been
reversed.

The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor.

Does it work?

The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.

Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have to hit
studs?

The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets)

Code calls for only one friggin outlet. Did the original owner pay for extras?

is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge

Definately 14 guage, or else there would be no C of O.

instead 12 gauge like everything else;

12 guage is beyond what code calls for. Did the original owner pay for a 20a,
instead of a 15a circuit in the garage?

and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot.

There's no such animal.

Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people.

How much more does a Lexus cost to build as opposed to a Maxima? You don't get
it.

I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/

Yes it's a garage, not a service station. Not a workshop. It's for storing
cars. Not for fixing them. Not for compressors. Not for welders. All it needs
is a light and an outlet.


As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)

That's putting it mildly. You've actually worked yourself up into a tizzy.


Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system issues.

-=Chris

Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack open a
couple of windows.

HaHaHa wrote:
Your home probably suffers from being too damn tight.

Exactly. But they knew that going into the build, unless they're stupid.
There shouldn't be a new home built without some sort of exchanger in it
to equalize pressure when every year, home get more and more
insulated/too sealed.


You need to exhaust the excessive humidity from bathrooms and kitchen and
possible introduce an outdoor air exchanger.

Working on it.

The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless.


Simple fix as it sounds like 1 traveller and the common wires have been
reversed.

Hopefully. I'm not brave enough to futz with it, and it's low on the
fixit list for now.



The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor.


Does it work?

Well, water flows into it, and drains out of it; except for the big
friggin leak at the m-2-m joint where the glue cracked open.

This is an easy weekend fix, but I don't use the sink much. Either way,
it never should've happened.



The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.


Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have to hit
studs?

The shelves are, the clothes hanger pipes aren't. The close hangers
pulled out already. Nothing a stud finder, and large screws didn't fix
in that case. Now it's a chinup bar. :-)



The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets)


Code calls for only one friggin outlet. Did the original owner pay for extras?

Fine, even one would be nice if it could actually power someting.



is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge


Definately 14 guage, or else there would be no C of O.

Yup, 14.



instead 12 gauge like everything else;


12 guage is beyond what code calls for. Did the original owner pay for a 20a,
instead of a 15a circuit in the garage?


and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot.


There's no such animal.

15, sorry.



Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people.


How much more does a Lexus cost to build as opposed to a Maxima? You don't get
it.

Hey now, don't rip on Maximas. :-)

Come on. It's the ONLY 14 gauge wire in the house. That's silly. We're
talking about 20ft of 12g on a 150k house.



I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/


Yes it's a garage, not a service station. Not a workshop. It's for storing
cars. Not for fixing them. Not for compressors. Not for welders. All it needs
is a light and an outlet.

I call BS on that. Find me one garage that doesn't have at least a
garage door opener, maybe two, and at least one power tool. Forget the
compresser, the small table saw did the same thing. What's acceptable, a
drill? It's a garage. People own tools.

It's not like I've got a 4000000 gal 200gigawat compresser here.
Many people have small portable compresser just for tiers and such.



As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)


That's putting it mildly. You've actually worked yourself up into a tizzy.

You're correct. I've spent most of the winter watching my windows rot
away slowly. That's not terribly fun. I'm trying to get it fixed, but
I'm having a hard enough time finding someone local who knows there
stuff rather than just being a cleaning part swapper. (not that those
aren't good skills too).



Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system issues.

-=Chris


Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack open a
couple of windows.

In the dead of winter. So the snow/sleet can come in, and sit on the
tops of the wood window frames? No thanks.

Besides, I've tried the cracking the window for a day experiment, and it
had no effect other than to loose heat. Hell, I've skipped days of
taking showers in the master bath, and taken them in the other bath in
the hall seperated from the more problemed rooms. The humidity is still
retarded in there.

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:35:18 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:

HaHaHa wrote:
Your home probably suffers from being too damn tight.

Exactly. But they knew that going into the build, unless they're stupid.
There shouldn't be a new home built without some sort of exchanger in it
to equalize pressure when every year, home get more and more
insulated/too sealed.


You need to exhaust the excessive humidity from bathrooms and kitchen and
possible introduce an outdoor air exchanger.

Working on it.

The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless.


Simple fix as it sounds like 1 traveller and the common wires have been
reversed.

Hopefully. I'm not brave enough to futz with it, and it's low on the
fixit list for now.



The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor.


Does it work?

Well, water flows into it, and drains out of it; except for the big
friggin leak at the m-2-m joint where the glue cracked open.

This is an easy weekend fix, but I don't use the sink much. Either way,
it never should've happened.



The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.


Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have to hit
studs?

The shelves are, the clothes hanger pipes aren't. The close hangers
pulled out already. Nothing a stud finder, and large screws didn't fix
in that case. Now it's a chinup bar. :-)



The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets)


Code calls for only one friggin outlet. Did the original owner pay for extras?

Fine, even one would be nice if it could actually power someting.



is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge


Definately 14 guage, or else there would be no C of O.

Yup, 14.



instead 12 gauge like everything else;


12 guage is beyond what code calls for. Did the original owner pay for a 20a,
instead of a 15a circuit in the garage?


and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot.


There's no such animal.

15, sorry.



Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people.


How much more does a Lexus cost to build as opposed to a Maxima? You don't get
it.

Hey now, don't rip on Maximas. :-)

Come on. It's the ONLY 14 gauge wire in the house. That's silly. We're
talking about 20ft of 12g on a 150k house.



I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/


Yes it's a garage, not a service station. Not a workshop. It's for storing
cars. Not for fixing them. Not for compressors. Not for welders. All it needs
is a light and an outlet.

I call BS on that. Find me one garage that doesn't have at least a
garage door opener, maybe two, and at least one power tool. Forget the
compresser, the small table saw did the same thing. What's acceptable, a
drill? It's a garage. People own tools.

It's not like I've got a 4000000 gal 200gigawat compresser here.
Many people have small portable compresser just for tiers and such.



As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)


That's putting it mildly. You've actually worked yourself up into a tizzy.

You're correct. I've spent most of the winter watching my windows rot
away slowly. That's not terribly fun. I'm trying to get it fixed, but
I'm having a hard enough time finding someone local who knows there
stuff rather than just being a cleaning part swapper. (not that those
aren't good skills too).



Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system issues.

-=Chris


Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack open a
couple of windows.

In the dead of winter. So the snow/sleet can come in, and sit on the
tops of the wood window frames? No thanks.

Besides, I've tried the cracking the window for a day experiment, and it
had no effect other than to loose heat. Hell, I've skipped days of
taking showers in the master bath, and taken them in the other bath in
the hall seperated from the more problemed rooms. The humidity is still
retarded in there.





Does the humidity seem to be high throughout the house? A dehumidifier
would of course help till you can get something done like air
exchanger. The house I had prior to current one, was tight as hell.
I had localized humidity problem. I would turn central heat blower
"on" versus automatic. (for short periods of time) Also ceiling fan
being on in master BR helped master bath a lot. (yes I had vent fan
in bathroom on too..)
Doing this spread the humidity around. I believe my problem was
initial install of HVAC system wasn't planned properly. With tight
house, great insulation, gas pack heating and A/C unit of unknown
size, ,, A/C or Heat ran very few minutes every hour to heat/cool
house. Did very little to move air around.
Like they say,, an oversized heating -A/C unit is not the best way to
go.
Chuck

Chuck wrote:
Does the humidity seem to be high throughout the house? A dehumidifier
would of course help till you can get something done like air

Well, it's higher in the bedrooms than in the first floor, but when the
humidity is bad, it's all windows on all floors. I've tried a
dehumidifier, but most of them only go down to 40%. If creates more heat
and noise than results. Cracking windows never helps.

Here's Pellas recommendations on humidity vs. outside temp:

20 F to 40 F Not over 40%
10 F to 20 F Not over 35%
0 F to 10 F Not over 30%
-10 F to 0 F Not over 25%
-20 F to –10 F Not over 20%


Even at 40%, I've had problems. If I get them down to 30%, it's usually
ok, except for a bathroom, even when noone has used that bathroom shower
in days. I'd even prefer %27ish for here in Ohio. We've had some nasty
days thus far.

The problem of course, is that I have no way of getting it that low.

The bedroom has always been the coldest in the house, and I suspect it's
a flow/duct/hvac planning problem, there's some other pressureizations
issue on the second floor.

Ever since we started using the fireplace in the last weeks, the
humidity on the first floor has been zen % %27-%31 @ 71F, probably due
to the air flow it generates.

Upstairs is ok today at %34-%37 @ 66F, but a few windows up there
weren't happy this morning.

Ironically, the basement is the dryest place in the house...24% @ 60F.

exchanger. The house I had prior to current one, was tight as hell.
I had localized humidity problem. I would turn central heat blower
"on" versus automatic. (for short periods of time) Also ceiling fan
being on in master BR helped master bath a lot. (yes I had vent fan
in bathroom on too..)

I was just looking into that this morning. I went outside and looked up
at the roof/back wall. The main bath has a vent fan, and I can see it on
the back wall. THe master bath has one, but it doesn't have it's own
vent on the back wall. Either it's routed into the other one, or they
vented it into the attic. :-(

Doing this spread the humidity around. I believe my problem was
initial install of HVAC system wasn't planned properly. With tight
house, great insulation, gas pack heating and A/C unit of unknown
size, ,, A/C or Heat ran very few minutes every hour to heat/cool
house. Did very little to move air around.

"gas pack"? Is that that same thing as meant by a condensor-type gas burner?

Like they say,, an oversized heating -A/C unit is not the best way to
go.
Chuck

Something else I heard mentioned is that when they blew in the extra
insulation in the attic, it sealed it too much, or that covered up soffets.


-=chris

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 18:23:36 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:

Chuck wrote:
Does the humidity seem to be high throughout the house? A dehumidifier
would of course help till you can get something done like air

Well, it's higher in the bedrooms than in the first floor, but when the
humidity is bad, it's all windows on all floors. I've tried a
dehumidifier, but most of them only go down to 40%. If creates more heat
and noise than results. Cracking windows never helps.

Here's Pellas recommendations on humidity vs. outside temp:

20 F to 40 F Not over 40%
10 F to 20 F Not over 35%
0 F to 10 F Not over 30%
-10 F to 0 F Not over 25%
-20 F to –10 F Not over 20%


Even at 40%, I've had problems. If I get them down to 30%, it's usually
ok, except for a bathroom, even when noone has used that bathroom shower
in days. I'd even prefer %27ish for here in Ohio. We've had some nasty
days thus far.

The problem of course, is that I have no way of getting it that low.

The bedroom has always been the coldest in the house, and I suspect it's
a flow/duct/hvac planning problem, there's some other pressureizations
issue on the second floor.

Ever since we started using the fireplace in the last weeks, the
humidity on the first floor has been zen % %27-%31 @ 71F, probably due
to the air flow it generates.

Upstairs is ok today at %34-%37 @ 66F, but a few windows up there
weren't happy this morning.

Ironically, the basement is the dryest place in the house...24% @ 60F.

exchanger. The house I had prior to current one, was tight as hell.
I had localized humidity problem. I would turn central heat blower
"on" versus automatic. (for short periods of time) Also ceiling fan
being on in master BR helped master bath a lot. (yes I had vent fan
in bathroom on too..)

I was just looking into that this morning. I went outside and looked up
at the roof/back wall. The main bath has a vent fan, and I can see it on
the back wall. THe master bath has one, but it doesn't have it's own
vent on the back wall. Either it's routed into the other one, or they
vented it into the attic. :-(

Doing this spread the humidity around. I believe my problem was
initial install of HVAC system wasn't planned properly. With tight
house, great insulation, gas pack heating and A/C unit of unknown
size, ,, A/C or Heat ran very few minutes every hour to heat/cool
house. Did very little to move air around.

"gas pack"? Is that that same thing as meant by a condensor-type gas burner?
A/C unit and gas furnace in one unit

Like they say,, an oversized heating -A/C unit is not the best way to
go.
Chuck

Something else I heard mentioned is that when they blew in the extra
insulation in the attic, it sealed it too much, or that covered up soffets.
it would cause excessive moisture in attic

-=chris

From: Chuck


On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:35:18 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:

HaHaHa wrote:
Your home probably suffers from being too damn tight.

Exactly. But they knew that going into the build, unless they're stupid.
There shouldn't be a new home built without some sort of exchanger in it
to equalize pressure when every year, home get more and more
insulated/too sealed.

Not to excuse the powers that be, but these issues don't crop up everywhere,
and some of them depend on the the way a particular family utilizes the home.

Understand that homebuilding is a business, not an art or a science, at least
not to the builders and developers who are in it for the money. The market is
what dictates what homes will and will not include, unless a code dictates
otherwise.

Asking "why didn't the builder just...?" is a sure sign that you the homeowner
thought s/he bought a home, when in reality, you bought a house.



You need to exhaust the excessive humidity from bathrooms and kitchen and
possible introduce an outdoor air exchanger.

Working on it.

The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless.


Simple fix as it sounds like 1 traveller and the common wires have been
reversed.

Hopefully. I'm not brave enough to futz with it, and it's low on the
fixit list for now.

Ah but it's the little things like that which when repaired, really give a
feeling of accomplishment and alleviate the distressful feeling that there's
something wrong with everything.




The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor.


Does it work?

Well, water flows into it, and drains out of it; except for the big
friggin leak at the m-2-m joint where the glue cracked open.

This is an easy weekend fix, but I don't use the sink much. Either way,
it never should've happened.


OK LOL! Iget it, the threaded male ends were glued to each other ?

I'm suprised it didn't raise the inspector's eyebrow. Maybe the original
homeowner righhed this up, paid only for the "rough-in?"




The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.


Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have to
hit
studs?

The shelves are, the clothes hanger pipes aren't. The close hangers
pulled out already. Nothing a stud finder, and large screws didn't fix
in that case. Now it's a chinup bar. :-)


I too just can't understand why the framers don't automaticlly install a stud
in the center of the bar space. But some framers are still working like it's
pre-1980 and expect the old pine wood shelf to be installed on a pine 1 x 3 on
the backside, and both sides of the closet, with the clothes bar sockets
screwed into the 1 x 3.




The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets)


Code calls for only one friggin outlet. Did the original owner pay for
extras?

Fine, even one would be nice if it could actually power someting.



is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge


Definately 14 guage, or else there would be no C of O.

Yup, 14.



instead 12 gauge like everything else;


12 guage is beyond what code calls for. Did the original owner pay for a
20a,
instead of a 15a circuit in the garage?


and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot.


There's no such animal.

15, sorry.



Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people.


How much more does a Lexus cost to build as opposed to a Maxima? You don't
get
it.

Hey now, don't rip on Maximas. :-)

Come on. It's the ONLY 14 gauge wire in the house. That's silly. We're
talking about 20ft of 12g on a 150k house.


1- Where the heck do YOU live?! 150k?!?!?

2- I'm not ripping on Maximas, I'm ripping on the practice MANY people have who
gripe about the quality of anything and everything no matter what it is.

3- I suspect this home was, as many are, fed power during construction with the
garage outlet(s) live before the rest of the house was actually wired.

4- Consider yourself lucky that the the entire house is wired with 12 guage.
99% of homes aren't, they're wired mostly with 14 guage and use 12 guage only
where necessary by code. And not to burst your bubble about that "luck" I have
to imagine that since your general purpose convenience receptacles are on 20a
circuits, you now actually have fewer circuits than you would if more typical
wiring methods were employed.



I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/


Yes it's a garage, not a service station. Not a workshop. It's for storing
cars. Not for fixing them. Not for compressors. Not for welders. All it
needs
is a light and an outlet.

I call BS on that. Find me one garage that doesn't have at least a
garage door opener, maybe two, and at least one power tool. Forget the
compresser, the small table saw did the same thing. What's acceptable, a
drill? It's a garage. People own tools.

It's not like I've got a 4000000 gal 200gigawat compresser here.
Many people have small portable compresser just for tiers and such.

Believe it or not, MOST people DON'T. In fact, MOST people don't even change
their own oil anymore, nor do they even have the pleasure of washing their own
car.

MOST people use a blowdrier, It's so common in fact that a bathroom outlet,
(even after GFCI protection was required) was only one of up to 10-12 outlets
on a circuit, ncluding the bathroom lights, and might share all the outlets in
a typical bedroom AND livingroom. Now bathroom outlets MUST be on their own 20
circuit. That's because MOST people will overload a 15a convenience circuit
nowadays.

(BTW after GFCI protection was required, it was VERY common to have ONE GFCI'd
circuit in a residence which included ALL of the bathroom outlets and lavatory
outlets (no matter how many) AND the required outdoor outlet as well as the ONE
garage outlet.) So if it makes you feel any better, be thankful that at least
your garage has it's own circuit. It's still not required by code.




As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)


That's putting it mildly. You've actually worked yourself up into a tizzy.


You're correct. I've spent most of the winter watching my windows rot
away slowly. That's not terribly fun. I'm trying to get it fixed, but
I'm having a hard enough time finding someone local who knows there
stuff rather than just being a cleaning part swapper. (not that those
aren't good skills too).

Well on the one hand you've got too much humidity. On the other hand, you can't
lower it much because, as you claim, much of your furniture is wood.

I suspect your windows were either installed improperly, or weren't very well
insulated to begin with. If the glass on the interior is that cold, and the
humidity in your home is that high, one of the 2 HAS to change.




Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system
issues.

-=Chris


Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack open
a
couple of windows.

In the dead of winter. So the snow/sleet can come in, and sit on the
tops of the wood window frames? No thanks.


Uh... I said CRACK.


Besides, I've tried the cracking the window for a day experiment, and it
had no effect other than to loose heat.

Whatever you do to remediate this, you are going to have to lose heat. Proper
venting causes heat loss. Proper air-exchanging when appropriate does cause
heat loss.

You'll be no worse off than if you didn't have these condensation issues
because the home wasn't built as tight.

Hell, I've skipped days of
taking showers in the master bath, and taken them in the other bath in
the hall seperated from the more problemed rooms. The humidity is still
retarded in there.

How about house plants? Aquariums? Indoor hottubs? Boil a lot of water?







Does the humidity seem to be high throughout the house? A dehumidifier
would of course help till you can get something done like air
exchanger. The house I had prior to current one, was tight as hell.
I had localized humidity problem. I would turn central heat blower
"on" versus automatic. (for short periods of time) Also ceiling fan
being on in master BR helped master bath a lot. (yes I had vent fan
in bathroom on too..)
Doing this spread the humidity around. I believe my problem was
initial install of HVAC system wasn't planned properly. With tight
house, great insulation, gas pack heating and A/C unit of unknown
size, ,, A/C or Heat ran very few minutes every hour to heat/cool
house. Did very little to move air around.
Like they say,, an oversized heating -A/C unit is not the best way to
go.
Chuck

HaHaHa wrote:
Not to excuse the powers that be, but these issues don't crop up everywhere,
and some of them depend on the the way a particular family utilizes the home.

Understand that homebuilding is a business, not an art or a science, at least
not to the builders and developers who are in it for the money. The market is
what dictates what homes will and will not include, unless a code dictates
otherwise.

Asking "why didn't the builder just...?" is a sure sign that you the homeowner
thought s/he bought a home, when in reality, you bought a house.

True. Part of that expectation is what I do for a living: computer
programming. In my mind, it's all about doing things the right way, not
the quick or cheap way. "Right, Quick, or Cheap. Pick any two." So when
I see silly things like the missing flashing or the utility tub piper
trick, I get ticked because I know better and I expected the builder to
know better too.

Ah but it's the little things like that which when repaired, really give a
feeling of accomplishment and alleviate the distressful feeling that there's
something wrong with everything.

The only feeling I'd get from trying to fix that myself would be shock. :-)

Well, water flows into it, and drains out of it; except for the big
friggin leak at the m-2-m joint where the glue cracked open.

This is an easy weekend fix, but I don't use the sink much. Either way,
it never should've happened.



OK LOL! Iget it, the threaded male ends were glued to each other ?

Correct.


I'm suprised it didn't raise the inspector's eyebrow. Maybe the original
homeowner righhed this up, paid only for the "rough-in?"

He found it. I am just surprised it came that way. It was installed by
the builder.




The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.


Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have to

hit

studs?

The shelves are, the clothes hanger pipes aren't. The close hangers
pulled out already. Nothing a stud finder, and large screws didn't fix
in that case. Now it's a chinup bar. :-)



I too just can't understand why the framers don't automaticlly install a stud
in the center of the bar space. But some framers are still working like it's
pre-1980 and expect the old pine wood shelf to be installed on a pine 1 x 3 on
the backside, and both sides of the closet, with the clothes bar sockets
screwed into the 1 x 3.

THat's the funny part. She made them drop horizontals between the studs
at eye level in all three bedrooms to hand things from like pictures,
shelves and stuff. Apparently they had enough by the time they hung
stuff in the closets. :-)

Come on. It's the ONLY 14 gauge wire in the house. That's silly. We're
talking about 20ft of 12g on a 150k house.



1- Where the heck do YOU live?! 150k?!?!?

Crackron, OH ish.


2- I'm not ripping on Maximas, I'm ripping on the practice MANY people have who
gripe about the quality of anything and everything no matter what it is.

See first comment above. :-)

Well on the one hand you've got too much humidity. On the other hand, you can't
lower it much because, as you claim, much of your furniture is wood.

I think it'll survive just fine as long as it's above 25%. I'll have to
check the paperwork on it again.

I suspect your windows were either installed improperly, or weren't very well
insulated to begin with.

Nothing would surprise me at this point.

Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack open

a

couple of windows.

In the dead of winter. So the snow/sleet can come in, and sit on the
tops of the wood window frames? No thanks.



Uh... I said CRACK.

Well, their casements. Just cracking them means the upper wood fram is
exposed to the weather, which is mostly snow/sleet right now.

Hell, I've skipped days of

taking showers in the master bath, and taken them in the other bath in
the hall seperated from the more problemed rooms. The humidity is still
retarded in there.


How about house plants? Aquariums? Indoor hottubs? Boil a lot of water?

No plants. No aquarium. No hottub; god I wish. Rarely boil water; maybe
once every 2 weeks.

-=Chris

Thanks folks for all your advice
I guess I can try to cut down on the humidity ..... when it gets really
cold and see wat happens.
how much do you think an Air Exchanger costs anyway ?
"HaHaHa" wrote in message
...
From: Chuck


On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:35:18 GMT, "Christopher H. Laco"
wrote:

HaHaHa wrote:
Your home probably suffers from being too damn tight.

Exactly. But they knew that going into the build, unless they're stupid.
There shouldn't be a new home built without some sort of exchanger in it
to equalize pressure when every year, home get more and more
insulated/too sealed.

Not to excuse the powers that be, but these issues don't crop up
everywhere,
and some of them depend on the the way a particular family utilizes the
home.

Understand that homebuilding is a business, not an art or a science, at
least
not to the builders and developers who are in it for the money. The market
is
what dictates what homes will and will not include, unless a code dictates
otherwise.

Asking "why didn't the builder just...?" is a sure sign that you the
homeowner
thought s/he bought a home, when in reality, you bought a house.



You need to exhaust the excessive humidity from bathrooms and kitchen
and
possible introduce an outdoor air exchanger.

Working on it.

The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless.


Simple fix as it sounds like 1 traveller and the common wires have been
reversed.

Hopefully. I'm not brave enough to futz with it, and it's low on the
fixit list for now.

Ah but it's the little things like that which when repaired, really give a
feeling of accomplishment and alleviate the distressful feeling that
there's
something wrong with everything.




The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put
the wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor.


Does it work?

Well, water flows into it, and drains out of it; except for the big
friggin leak at the m-2-m joint where the glue cracked open.

This is an easy weekend fix, but I don't use the sink much. Either way,
it never should've happened.


OK LOL! Iget it, the threaded male ends were glued to each other ?

I'm suprised it didn't raise the inspector's eyebrow. Maybe the original
homeowner righhed this up, paid only for the "rough-in?"




The closet
shelves (installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs.


Are these those wire-frame closet shelve systems designed to not have
to
hit
studs?

The shelves are, the clothes hanger pipes aren't. The close hangers
pulled out already. Nothing a stud finder, and large screws didn't fix
in that case. Now it's a chinup bar. :-)


I too just can't understand why the framers don't automaticlly install a
stud
in the center of the bar space. But some framers are still working like
it's
pre-1980 and expect the old pine wood shelf to be installed on a pine 1 x
3 on
the backside, and both sides of the closet, with the clothes bar sockets
screwed into the 1 x 3.




The entire
electrical run to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets)


Code calls for only one friggin outlet. Did the original owner pay for
extras?

Fine, even one would be nice if it could actually power someting.



is on 16
(possibly 14) gauge


Definately 14 guage, or else there would be no C of O.

Yup, 14.



instead 12 gauge like everything else;


12 guage is beyond what code calls for. Did the original owner pay for
a
20a,
instead of a 15a circuit in the garage?


and on a
10amp cirtuit to boot.


There's no such animal.

15, sorry.



Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20
foot of 12 gauge people.


How much more does a Lexus cost to build as opposed to a Maxima? You
don't
get
it.

Hey now, don't rip on Maximas. :-)

Come on. It's the ONLY 14 gauge wire in the house. That's silly. We're
talking about 20ft of 12g on a 150k house.


1- Where the heck do YOU live?! 150k?!?!?

2- I'm not ripping on Maximas, I'm ripping on the practice MANY people
have who
gripe about the quality of anything and everything no matter what it is.

3- I suspect this home was, as many are, fed power during construction
with the
garage outlet(s) live before the rest of the house was actually wired.

4- Consider yourself lucky that the the entire house is wired with 12
guage.
99% of homes aren't, they're wired mostly with 14 guage and use 12 guage
only
where necessary by code. And not to burst your bubble about that "luck" I
have
to imagine that since your general purpose convenience receptacles are on
20a
circuits, you now actually have fewer circuits than you would if more
typical
wiring methods were employed.



I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a
tire. It's a friggin garage!!!!! :-/


Yes it's a garage, not a service station. Not a workshop. It's for
storing
cars. Not for fixing them. Not for compressors. Not for welders. All it
needs
is a light and an outlet.

I call BS on that. Find me one garage that doesn't have at least a
garage door opener, maybe two, and at least one power tool. Forget the
compresser, the small table saw did the same thing. What's acceptable, a
drill? It's a garage. People own tools.

It's not like I've got a 4000000 gal 200gigawat compresser here.
Many people have small portable compresser just for tiers and such.

Believe it or not, MOST people DON'T. In fact, MOST people don't even
change
their own oil anymore, nor do they even have the pleasure of washing their
own
car.

MOST people use a blowdrier, It's so common in fact that a bathroom
outlet,
(even after GFCI protection was required) was only one of up to 10-12
outlets
on a circuit, ncluding the bathroom lights, and might share all the
outlets in
a typical bedroom AND livingroom. Now bathroom outlets MUST be on their
own 20
circuit. That's because MOST people will overload a 15a convenience
circuit
nowadays.

(BTW after GFCI protection was required, it was VERY common to have ONE
GFCI'd
circuit in a residence which included ALL of the bathroom outlets and
lavatory
outlets (no matter how many) AND the required outdoor outlet as well as
the ONE
garage outlet.) So if it makes you feel any better, be thankful that at
least
your garage has it's own circuit. It's still not required by code.




As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)


That's putting it mildly. You've actually worked yourself up into a
tizzy.


You're correct. I've spent most of the winter watching my windows rot
away slowly. That's not terribly fun. I'm trying to get it fixed, but
I'm having a hard enough time finding someone local who knows there
stuff rather than just being a cleaning part swapper. (not that those
aren't good skills too).

Well on the one hand you've got too much humidity. On the other hand, you
can't
lower it much because, as you claim, much of your furniture is wood.

I suspect your windows were either installed improperly, or weren't very
well
insulated to begin with. If the glass on the interior is that cold, and
the
humidity in your home is that high, one of the 2 HAS to change.




Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system
issues.

-=Chris


Changes in building codes have caused the problems. You need to crack
open
a
couple of windows.

In the dead of winter. So the snow/sleet can come in, and sit on the
tops of the wood window frames? No thanks.


Uh... I said CRACK.


Besides, I've tried the cracking the window for a day experiment, and it
had no effect other than to loose heat.

Whatever you do to remediate this, you are going to have to lose heat.
Proper
venting causes heat loss. Proper air-exchanging when appropriate does
cause
heat loss.

You'll be no worse off than if you didn't have these condensation issues
because the home wasn't built as tight.

Hell, I've skipped days of
taking showers in the master bath, and taken them in the other bath in
the hall seperated from the more problemed rooms. The humidity is still
retarded in there.

How about house plants? Aquariums? Indoor hottubs? Boil a lot of water?







Does the humidity seem to be high throughout the house? A dehumidifier
would of course help till you can get something done like air
exchanger. The house I had prior to current one, was tight as hell.
I had localized humidity problem. I would turn central heat blower
"on" versus automatic. (for short periods of time) Also ceiling fan
being on in master BR helped master bath a lot. (yes I had vent fan
in bathroom on too..)
Doing this spread the humidity around. I believe my problem was
initial install of HVAC system wasn't planned properly. With tight
house, great insulation, gas pack heating and A/C unit of unknown
size, ,, A/C or Heat ran very few minutes every hour to heat/cool
house. Did very little to move air around.
Like they say,, an oversized heating -A/C unit is not the best way to
go.
Chuck

Hi
thanks for your reply
So what do you think of the Venting pipe running through to the roof , do
you think it just needs some insulation on it?.
would I have to get up in the attic to do this ?
"Christopher H. Laco" wrote in message
. com...
Chucky D wrote:
Hello
I have some excessive condensation on my windows, and I seem to be having
to wipe up the water every day . I live in Canada and it is winter here
now , and it seems to get worse in the really cold weather. But when it
gets really cold it freezes on the inside. We have a fairly new home(3
years old) could this be just a caulking problem or some thing worse?.
I am also having a little bit of water drip through the Ceiling Fan in
the upstairs washroom, again when it gets cold and I take a shower, and
only in the winter time when it gets reall cold.
Could that be just a matter of insulating a venting pipe ?
any help is appreciated

thanks

I feel your pain brother. I'm in a 7 year old house that I bought last
year. Awesome house; except for the window situation. They're all Pella
vinyl out/wood interior casements; and they sweat like hell; the water
runs down into the seals and freezes on the wood frame. The wood is
rotting slowly by the day. It makes me want to cry.

I'm in the process of trying to find a good experienced heating guy (not
just a furnace part changer) to help me identify the particular issues
with my house humidity and figure out how to correct them.

I've yet to find a pattern to make the windows stop sweating. sometimes it
will be one window, but not the one 1 foot away. (They're grouped in
pairs...
http://today.icantfocus.com/blog/ima...ic/1259827.jpg)

We just got the fireplace/chimney cleaned. Sometimes burning a fire,
causing air circulation through the second floor and leaving the flu open
all night, will cause the second floor to have a low humidity works.
Sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes the second floor will actually be the same high temp/low
humidity as the first floor; most of the times not. (Yes, the duct baffles
are open).

Then of course, the original owner put a lot of $ into the woodwork.
Oak trim all around; solid oak doors. Hardwood floors. And we've got amish
made heavy oak furniture. So, there's only so low we can go with the
humidity.

On top of that, who knows what in the hell the builder did. The first
owner ****ed him off so much that they started doing stupid stuff out of
spite I think. They never flashed the siding under the deck, so heavy
rains run behind the friggin siding and in between the window and the
header, leaking into the basement. The "3 way" light on my second floor
isn't; the third switch cuts power to the first two switches entirely
rendering them useless. The utility tub in the basement was installed by
glueing a male connecter to a male connector because some dip**** put the
wrong thing in the pipe sticking out of the floor. The closet shelves
(installed by the builder) hit 0% of the studs. The entire electrical run
to the garage (which has only 2 friggin outlets) is on 16 (possibly 14)
gauge instead 12 gauge like everything else; and on a 10amp cirtuit to
boot. Jesus, how much more would it have cost to run 20 foot of 12 gauge
people. I couldn't even run my compresser to pump up a tire. It's a
friggin garage!!!!! :-/

As if you can't tell, I'm very stressed about my windows. :-)

Personally, any builder who builds a highly R rated sealed house now a
days should be shot for not also planning for the high humidity problem
most houses have by thinking about the fan ventings and HVAC system
issues.

-=Chris

Pella dual pane LowE argon were not rated very good in consumer reports
for condensation. My pellas condense but my Andersons do not. It is
called CDF. If two windows are side by side and one condenses it
probably lost its Gas, it is a warranty issue with Pella. You may be
able to upgrade to Tri pane sections at a fairly low cost.

Do you have a furnace humidifer? If so turn it off by the water supply
and power it could be running and you would not notice it.

Is house covered with Tyvek. Yes that can make it to tight.

Does bath fan vent, test it for draw, do you cook with exterior
venting.

Your house needs more fresh air, leaving doors closed for pets is bad
for air movement, use a pet gate.

You probably need a fresh air exchanger, they are not cheap I was
quoted 1200. But in the meantime open windows a few minutes a day
humidity will not get to low and damage your wood since you are way high
now. Are your humidistats accurate, many analog units can be calibrated,
it is common to buy analog 10-30% out of calibration. Electronic are
usualy better.

Do you have a condensing furnace? The drain could be slow-plugged
adding moisture through evaporation.

Is dryer hooked up tight outdoors and of course you do not hang dry
clothes. Do you have plants they contribute to humidity.

The dripping of the bath fan is bad also it may not be powerfull enough
or actualy venting, Is it set on a timer switch for extended running, it
should be.

Try leaving blower on to circulate air, you say the basement is dryest,
is there a return there to move the dryer air around.

Most likely it is just to tight but there are other things to check
first.