Posted: 8/4/2013 1:37:31 PM EDT
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Our "cabin" is slab on grade construction for the main house (built in the 70s), with a crawlspace for the addition that was put on sometime in the 80s. We purchased it about a year ago.
Due to my upcoming wedding and all the usual commitments and obligations, we haven't been able to get down there since late spring. We went down a few weeks ago (this was in the middle of several weeks worth of >90* heat), and despite being all sealed up, the place was 60* inside. Its not insulated well enough to make it act like a Thermos saving January's cold air for July. Something is cooling the place, and my thought is that there is a spring directly underneath the slab. The whole property is damp, but drainage is good where the cabin is so there is no obvious evidence of standing or flowing water. Because of the extreme temp difference and excess moisture in the air, everything (including furniture) was covered in a layer of condensation....which of course means mold, Once someone has been down there opening doors and whatnot for a few days, it evens out and the humidity drops to a more normal level....but when its sealed up, its freaking cloud in there. As off right now, my plan is to begin the following steps, in this order: 1) run a nipple and ball valve off the tank on the dehumidifier. That way we can set the thing on the kitchen counter and have it drain into the sink while running non-stop when we're gone 2) start installing some fans to exhaust air out of the building. I don't know what, if anything, it has for ventilation. 3) crawl down into the crawlspace of the addition (where there is a sump pump), and see just how much water is flowing into the sump. I can explore the possibility of driving perforated galv pipe horizontally (almost like one of those backwoods driven wells), or bust up the slab and install drain tile....but I'm afraid that the slab was poured without a vapor barrier....so I'm not sure if the drain tile would help me much. Any other ideas for solutions or possible causes of this problem? Words of encouragement? Names of some good exorcists? PS...a little extra info. Water is supplied via well, no plumbing is below/in the slab, and a lot of it is exposed in the older part of the house. Nothing is leaking. Its on a septic system....very simple setup running from the two bathrooms. No known leaks. |
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I agree with beekeeper. You need air circulation, and ventilation. If you have forced air, you could run the blower fan, and the dehumidifier setup you described and that should be fine. But your electric bill will go up.
For a cheaper version.... My inlaws have a cabin in Ohio. It's an A-frame with a sleeping loft in the top part. What they did when they built it was to put 4x12" ish vent in the walls along the baseboard that are open to the outside with screen and wire mesh to keep out any critters. They have these about every 10 ft. along the outside walls, and then have awning style windows at the peaks of the a frame. When they leave they just open the vents, and the peak windows, and you have a constant airflow thru the house when you aren't there. Their place never smells musty or moldy no matter how long it sits. If we go in the winter, we just put foam pads in the vents, and remove when you leave. |
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Quoted:
Thanks guys. I'll have to set up some vents in there, as I have no idea how well the roof and soffets are vented. You really think that just being sealed up is causing that much of a moisture problem and there aren't any underlying issues? There's no way to know that from here, but think about seasonal changes--warm moist air in the summer, which ends up being trapped inside when you "close things up for the year," then it cools off, which causes condensation if there is no turnover of the air. |