Water, & therefore mold, in crawl space. Help!

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rray

New Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi all,

We are moving into an apartment on the 7th floor that has a big pre-existing problem with mold (we live in a hot, humid country!). The (false) ceiling in one bedroom is so moldy that it had to be cut out and replaced. When the ceiling was removed we found the entire insulation around the AC duct soaked (and moldy). Further, as you can see in the pictures there are loads of water droplets on the top of the ceiling (that is, the floor of the above apartment).

We know that the previous tenant never ran the aircon in that room or ventilated the house. The agent thinks that because the room was much hotter than normal, the temperature difference between the air in the crawl space and the real ceiling/8th floor room above us, caused the condensation. But this does not explain why the AC insulation is soaked through.

Once we move in, we will be using the AC in that room, so presumably that huge variation in temperature won’t happen. But can this be a likely explanation for all that water in there? And even if it is, I can’t ask the guy upstairs to turn off his air con, so what’s the solution to preventing this condensation in our crawl space?

IMG_3800.jpg

IMG_3801.jpg
 
I'm confused, how can you be on the 7th floor and have a crawlspace be an issue.
No way in a million years would I risk my life or my family living in a place like that.
I would have said, thanks but no thanks and ran away as fast as I could.
 
I'm confused, how can you be on the 7th floor and have a crawlspace be an issue.
No way in a million years would I risk my life or my family living in a place like that.
I would have said, thanks but no thanks and ran away as fast as I could.

I suspect he's referring to the space above the ceiling and below the floor above. I suspect there is an AC issue that needs resolved. I'd get that looked at first and I'd remove and replace the duct insulation once I confirmed the ducts are clean and dry on the inside.
 
I suspect he's referring to the space above the ceiling and below the floor above. I suspect there is an AC issue that needs resolved. I'd get that looked at first and I'd remove and replace the duct insulation once I confirmed the ducts are clean and dry on the inside.

Yes, that is what I mean - the space between the false ceiling and the floor above. It's complicated, but we have to try resolve the issue within reasonable limits and can't back out of the deal without trying. So, yeah, the plan as of yesterday is to remove all the duct insulation, and check if there is a problem with the AC pipes. But there was still some lingering talk that the condensation was coming simply from the temperature difference between this room and the floor above. That's why I wanted to ask if that sounds reasonable or even possible.
 
The condensation is a result of the high humidity in the air. Likely a result of the previous owner not air conditioning the apartment. If the apartment above was air conditioned and yours wasn't the high humidity in your apartment could condense on the cold concrete and steel floor.

Making sure that your Air Conditioning is functioning and the condensate draining properly will dry out the air in your unit and keep condensation to a minimum. Reinsulating the ducts will keep the warmer moist air in the space between your ceiling and the floor above from forming condensation on the much colder ducts. Conditioning this space will help as well. The air conditioning will dry the air out in this space. There may be a source of the water within this space, but I suspect it is mainly high humidity. Are you located in a humid area? But while it is open check for other sources of water such as a plumbing leak or an improperly vented exhaust fan from the bathroom or kitchen.
 
Back
Top