Moisture Survey

Did you know that 80% of all building problems are moisture related? Wet rot, dry rot, mold, insulation failure; these are some of the problems you face when water infiltrates your building. Ashton Thermal can identify moisture in your building and determine its source. Often, the repairs necessary to "stem the tide" are not overly complicated, or difficult, but it is important that these repairs are made to ensure the health and safety of the building and its occupants.

Looking at the diagram below, we can see that there are numerous points for water to enter. Some of these are obvious, but many people are unaware of condensation that can occur between the walls. What happens is this: Warm air always moves towards cold air, so in the winter while we are heating our building, the warm air travels to the outside(cooler) walls. Some of this air may penetrate the wall surface and find itself in the insulation bay, which is cooler than the air inside the house. Because warm air can hold more moisture than cool air, the water vapor that exists in the air condenses making whatever is around it wet. The same thing can happen in the summer, only in reverse.

The tools we use for detecting moisture are: a) an infrared camera, b) a moisture meter, and c) our noses. Usually, when something has been wet for a while, it smells because certain natural processes are occurring that generate odors. These processes can include mildew, mold and rot. Of course, we don't want these things happening in our buildings because they are bad for the building and can be bad for us.

Infrared is a wonderful tool to detect even tiny amounts of moisture. The thermal capacity of water is much higher than that of the building materials, so the camera is able to differentiate between them as long as there exists a small difference in temperature. We only use the moisture meter to verify the camera's findings and determine the amount of moisture present.

If your nose is telling you that you have unwanted moisture in your building, give Ashton Thermal a call.