So humid the carpet is wet?

[carlosgw]

I am being told that A building is so humid the carpet is wet. I have never heard of this situation. I (and the building) are in the northeast so maybe if you are in the southeast (US) you have seen a similar situation?

 

[IRstuff]

Are there dead people there? One would think that if it were that humid, the live people would dropping like flies if it's hot there and if it's cold, they would be complaining about clamminess or excessive chillness; both would be symptoms noticeable by people before a wet carpet.

Perhaps, there's a water leak? Is this occurring on all floors? If it's a particular floor, it could be that the occupants in the lower floor has cranked up the A/C, making the floor particularly cold. Is there condensation on the walls?

TTFN
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[BronYrAur]

yea, doesn't make sense. If the carpet is wet, then the walls and everything else should be too. The carpet would be no colder than any other surface, and thus should not condense water if other surfaces are not. I vote for a leak of some kind.

 

[DRWeig]

Is it wet from condensation dripping off the ceiling diffusers? From condensation running down glass walls?

Follow the water. Where did it come from? What's the cold surface in the room? How's the moist air getting in?

Best to you,

Goober Dave

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[317069]

Check the site first.

 

[urgross]

I've encountered this in the DC area. An oddity, the building was the first atomic bomb blast resistant structure, the Dr. Strangelove building. The Basement level was 40 feet under ground, 7 story structure, walls ranging from 20" to 24" reinforced. The thermal inertia from massive amount of concrete required continuous exhaust or condensate poured down the walls and left standing puddles on the VAT.

Never heard of carpets becoming soaked before condensate was noticeable on the walls. If the 50-year old exhuast fan died during the night, all the nice stainless steel equipment and walls would be running rivers.

 

[IRstuff]

One other possibility, ala urgross' posting is one-directional exchange of moisture. We used to have a product that was used in a maritime environment, but was not fully sealed. After a few days, there would be liquid water inside the product. The cause was a pressure increase during the day, from the solar load, which forced air out of the system. The air would return when the system cooled down, but would come with dew condensation from the outside of the product. The next day, the air would warm up and leave, but the moisture would not completely evaporate and would not completely be expelled. After a few days of continually increasing water content, the product would contain a small amount of standing water.

So, it's possible then, that your A/C is not controlling the humidity, and there is a continual influx of moisture because the building is not exchanging its air sufficiently to remove the residual moisture.

TTFN
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[carlosgw]

I was thinking maybe water was coming up from the concrete and the HVAC was not dehumidifying. The drawings are from 2008. You would think it would be dry by now or the problem would have shown up before.

 

[chicopee]

I would first check for leaking pipes before blaming the humidity.

 

[IRstuff]

Again, you did not provide details about what floor it was; presumably the ground floor? It certainly could be cracks in the concrete coupled with a high water table or just some sort of leak.

There's certainly little possibility that it's coming from the concrete itself, the water that was in the mix is tightly bound into hydrates, oxides, and hydroxides that are not easily relieved of their water molecules.

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[urgross]

If you have any of the F&P information it might be useful. The building I mentioned above was constructed on native granite sheet. In the spring rainy season, water would build up between the rock stratum to the point of overflowing the Basement elevator pit.