humidity WOWS

carman34l · 03-09-2006, 05:47 PM

My father in law is a Renovation contractor and was called to someone's house today to estimate a roof repair due to a leaky roof. The guy has a 200g FOWLR tank. My father in law crawled up into that attic to check the inside of the roof sheeting and when he got up there the whole attic was like a ice cave he said. The were stalagmites and stalagtights all over the place. He said that in one area there had to be over 36 inches of ice on the rafters.

My father in law asked him how many gallons of evap he had and was told about 80 gallons a week. I asked him how or what would cause that he said that the Building codes that have to be met lock up all of the moisture in the house and does not allow it to escape. The house that this happened to is less than two years old. I guess that with modern building codes and not taking care to aid in the escape of all the evap from our tanks can really have a big problem.

The home owner has to replace half of the trusses and the whole roof now and that is not going to be cheap! What a simple bathroom exhaust fan hooked up to a humidastat could have done in this situation. My father in law said that when he got home he checked our attic and found nothing, thank god. But he said that new homes and made almost air tight and have no breathing room at all. What a fiasco.

coldwaterreefer · 03-09-2006, 05:51 PM

wow any pics?

thegrimreefer · 03-09-2006, 05:54 PM

He evaporates 40% of his tank volume a week? What does he do, mist it out over the basement floor with industrial blowers running?

80 gallons a week!

carman34l · 03-09-2006, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegrimreefer

He evaporates 40% of his tank volume a week? What does he do, mist it out over the basement floor with industrial blowers running?

80 gallons a week!

Thats what I was thinking. I thought geez does he keep his temp at 90 degrees. But I wasnt there and thats what he told my father in law.

Sorry no pics.

carman34l · 03-09-2006, 06:04 PM

I guess that they started moving all their furniter out to a safe place and getting ready for the demo. All of the sheetrock in the affected area has to be replaced. This will not be a cheap fix. basiclly rebuilding the whole top section of the house.

David Grigor · 03-09-2006, 06:13 PM

My 300g with 5X400W MH on it was 6-8 gallons a day. So that would equate to max of 56 gallons a week. I had to take it down after 2 years for the same reason Humidity was ruining the house without a fresh air exchanger.

However, on a fish only tank, I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to use glass tops for it which would help tenfold.....

mtfatwork · 03-09-2006, 06:18 PM

wow, 80 gallons a week is insane.

sls · 03-09-2006, 07:09 PM

thats why i live in an 80 yr old house that is really drafty. you can almost watch the humidity FLY out the windows in my house! lol

Irenicus · 03-09-2006, 07:11 PM

That's just nuts.

Achilles Tang · 03-09-2006, 07:51 PM

Hmmmmmm If the house is less than 2 years old then it has to have a air exchanger or continuous exhaust to meet the current energy code. It sounds to me like the air exchanger was turned off? not working? or something With the current air exchange rates required I can't see how any humidity could build up.
Additionally because of how tight todays homes are that would be the exact reason it would be so hard for moister to permiate the vapor retarder on the warm side of the envelope IE plastic between sheet rock and stud or truss. Water doesn't travel through plastic. While I fully agree there is a huge problem, the builder should be envolved since thereis a federally mandated 1 - 2- 10 warranty. 1 year bumper to bumper 2 year mechanical and 10 year structural. If I were a betting man I would say that there is a defect in the vapor barrier letting moister into the attic.
Didn't mean to rain on your parrade (no pun intended)

spazz · 03-09-2006, 08:03 PM

wow i bet energy dont evaporate that much out of his 1700g tank in a week. thats nuts. he hust be doing something wrong. and the air exchanger should take care of the humidity unless they are venting it to the crawl space. then it would explain why its building up in there. some contractors try and get cheap and cut corners like that.

Loverotties · 03-09-2006, 09:10 PM

I can't get over the 80 GALLONS A WEEK!!!!!

carman34l · 03-09-2006, 09:51 PM

I was just talking to my father in law again and he said that the home-owner did alot of the finishing work himself so The air exchanger emtying into the attic would probably be the cause. I guess there were alot of half assed things about the house. I am still laughing at this, what a moron if he let the exchanger dump into the attic!!!

Skipponator · 03-09-2006, 10:39 PM

I lose about 15 gallons a week, and I have an air exchanger. 3 feet of ice, wowzers, I'd like to see pics of that!

Brandon L · 03-09-2006, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carman34l

I was just talking to my father in law again and he said that the home-owner did alot of the finishing work himself so The air exchanger emtying into the attic would probably be the cause. I guess there were alot of half assed things about the house. I am still laughing at this, what a moron if he let the exchanger dump into the attic!!!

What an IDIOT!!! I hope this guy doesn't get a red cent from the insurance company.