How Humidity Slowly Damages a Home Without You Noticing?
When humidity becomes too high in a home, it may not show the homeowner that it’s causing damage in any way. The paints on the wall will look completely normal and every other thing in the house will appear untouched. Since there’s no immediate or dramatic effect, many homeowners may just ignore it and go about their daily routine without thinking about the condition of the house.
Humidity works like a slow poison, it spreads the harm quietly and slowly and you may not notice anything until it has caused serious or obvious damages. It usually starts its quiet operation by introducing small amounts of moisture into the air. To many homeowners, that amount of moisture is actually negligible and shouldn’t be a cause for concern. But the moisture doesn’t stop, instead, the pattern continues and more moisture is added to the air and entire space in the house. Moisture cannot hang in the air forever, it has to find a way to settle. So after roaming in the space for some time, it finally settles on surfaces around you like the walls, ceilings and corners that you don’t have easy access to. At this point, there’s still no visible sign to point at but something is changing gradually without your knowledge.
After the moisture has soaked into materials or rested on available surfaces for a while, you may now start to see some signs. At first, the air in your home may start to feel like it’s a little bit heavier than usual but that heaviness may not be significant enough to make you feel alarmed that something is seriously wrong in the house. The next thing you may notice is that the heavy air has graduated into a faint smell that appears one moment and disappears the next. This on and off odor is likely the beginning phase of mold growth and it’s a sign that the concentration of spores in the space is still low. Another sign you might notice is that some areas in your house have refused to dry or they’re not drying out as quickly as they used to.
If you look at these humidity signs individually, you might just conclude that nothing is happening and overlook them. But when these signs are put together, they tell a story and paint a picture about moisture and humidity.
It’s important to state at this point that Humidity damage is not a big moment event and it doesn’t happen overnight. It usually starts with very small and consistent changes that find a way to blend into everyday life until they become obvious. This is why you need to understand the subject well enough to prevent or detect it before it causes damage in your home.
What Humidity Really Means
Before we start sniffing the area to find out the damages that can be done by humidity, it’ll be great if we first understand what it really is. So, what exactly is humidity? Humidity is the amount of moisture or water that is present in the air.
The air we all know (that circulates both indoors and outdoors) is not completely dry. It carries some amount of moisture with it as it moves around. If there’s a small amount of moisture in the air, everything feels very normal as you’re breathing and you won’t experience any damage to your home as a result of humidity issues. If the moisture in the air is very very small, the air will feel dry and it might make you a little uncomfortable. However, if there’s plenty of moisture in the air, that’s when problems begin to creep in. Let’s explain these three conditions by comparing them with a sponge.
When the moisture level is small or moderate, there won’t be an issue. But when moisture is very very small, the air behaves like a dry sponge by absorbing moisture from anything it finds whether it is your skin, eyes or even nostril. This is why people usually experience dry eyes, dehydration, dry skin and sometimes experience dry cough. When the air has too much moisture, we can compare it to a sponge that is already soaked. This sponge will not be able to hold any more moisture so any additional moisture that is released into the air at this point will be released back on surfaces around the home. The excess moisture in the air can form water droplets on windows or cause dampness on your walls.
Now that we’re clear on what humidity is and how it works, let’s talk about where indoor humidity comes from. High humidity conditions in a house does not just happen without a reason. There’s always something to trigger the humidity in a home and that thing could either be external/environmental factors or internal/everyday activities.
Some of the daily activities that increase the humidity in a home are cooking, hot showers and even breathing. All of these can build up over time and elevate the amount of moisture in the air if your room is not well ventilated.
Humidity can also increase or decrease depending on the conditions outside the house. When the weather is cold outside, you’ll notice that your windows and walls will become cooler and this makes them to attract moisture.
Humidity is normal, but when it becomes too much then you might start experiencing different issues in your home.
Can Too Much Humidity Be a Problem and Why?
The answer to this question is YES, too much humidity can be a problem for homeowners and their building. The next question now is how or why does it become a problem?
As earlier stated, humidity is not an enemy of your house. It has its good side too. If the humidity level in your room is too low, you’ll not be comfortable staying indoors because the entire place will feel very dry. This is where the concept of balance comes to play.
Balance vs Excess: If the humidity level indoor is not too low and not too high, you’ll feel very comfortable staying indoors because the air in the space would be light and surfaces within the house would remain as they should – dry. But the moment the humidity level rises, there’ll be a huge shift in the indoor conditions. One of the major shifts is in how heavy the air feels. So, how can you know if there’s a shift?
One of the ways to know humidity level has risen is when you start noticing that it takes longer for things to dry. If you notice that your wet clothes or towels have refused to give out moisture, then the air in the space must be so oversaturated that it cannot take more moisture. Sometimes you’ll even observe that after cleaning a surface, let’s say a table or chair, the surface will still have moisture sitting on it for long when you’d have thought that it should have dried off. All of this happens because the air is already holding a lot of moisture and it can’t afford to take any more moisture. Any excess moisture on surfaces or in the air within the room will have to remain there until it is absorbed by the surface or the conditions permits it to evaporate.
Modern homes sometimes complicate the issue. Most modern homes are built with doors and windows that are tightly sealed, meaning they don’t allow heat or air escape. This airtight design has its advantages which is that it helps to make the house energy efficient but it also means less natural airflow. So whenever moisture is created inside a modern home, it’ll not easily have a way to escape. Now when you add those daily moisture contributors like cooking and showering, the amount of moisture in the air will keep increasing and it’ll slowly create conditions for damage to happen.
How Humidity Affects the Air Inside Your Home
Before humidity starts leaving marks on your walls or ceiling, it usually starts by changing something much simpler within your home and that is the air you breathe in every day. But guess what? Many homeowners don’t even notice the change in the air. One of the reasons is because a change in air condition is not too dramatic. It doesn’t happen in a way that draws immediate attention or makes people panic, instead, it takes place slowly and makes the air heavier gradually.
Whenever the air is humid, your room would feel warmer than it normally used to and the air would not feel fresh. If you’re indoors in such humid conditions and you’re feeling a bit hot, the normal thing your body should do is to try to cool itself but the moisture in the air makes it harder for your body to cool. This small discomfort is easy to ignore but it’s not something you can fully get used to.
As humidity increases, the quality of the air inside the house also starts to drop. You might not be able to measure the drop in air quality immediately but you’ll know that something has changed by how the space feels and smells. Some rooms in your home may not smell as fresh as they used to and the strange smell may not even be overwhelming – just there in the background. Anytime air is not allowed to circulate properly in a place and the air is moist, it’ll become stale as time goes by.
One thing about this stage of humidity problem is that nothing looks damaged yet. The walls are fine and the ceiling looks normal but the only thing that has changed is how the air feels and smells. If the changes continue to happen, it’ll get to a point where you might start seeing visible signs of damages caused by high humidity.
The First Signs Most People Ignore
Here are some of the first obvious signs that moisture is building up inside your home as a result of high humidity.
Condensation on Windows: One of the most common problems that follows high humidity is condensation in the house. If you wake up in the morning and you see tiny water droplets on your window, that water droplet is most likely as a result of high humidity throughout the night. This humidity is usually created during the day when you’re going about your normal daily activities like cooking, showering or drying clothes. If the humid air doesn’t get an escape route it’ll remain in the space until night and when the outdoors become cool, the moisture-filled air moves towards the cool window and settles there. After some time, the settled air turns into water droplets. The water droplet may appear harmless to some homeowners and they’ll just ignore it. Meanwhile others may wipe the windows with a cloth and move on with the belief that the problem has been solved. Whatever stance you take, remember that the droplets you see are a sign that the air inside your home is holding too much moisture because of poor ventilation.
Musty Smells: Another sign that humidity is causing damage in your home is when you perceive a strange odor. The strange or musty smell is mostly observed when you enter a room that has been closed for a while. Some people may assume that the odor is because of lack of fresh air but the problem is a result of moisture sitting in the space for too long.
Slight Dampness: Dampness is another result of increased humidity in an apartment. When humid air stays for long in a room, the walls in the room will feel a bit cooler than the walls in the other rooms. This coolness can also be called dampness.
How Walls and Ceilings Are Slowly Affected
Paint Peeling: When humidity is allowed for too long in a home it condenses into moisture and settles into the walls. After some time, the moisture will start loosening the bond between the paint and the wall and before you know what is happening, the paint will start falling off.
Discoloration and Damp Patches: The next thing you may notice on walls and ceilings when humidity is taking a toll on them is faint discoloration. The color change is not usually suddenly obvious, instead, it grows slowly or blends in at the beginning. After some time, it starts turning to darker or damp patches.
Damage to Furniture and Belongings
Humidity doesn’t only affect walls and ceilings, it can also get to things that you use everyday like your furniture, your clothes and even items you’ve stored away or forgotten about.
Wood Swelling and Warping: Furniture like wardrobes, doors, tables, and cabinets are all made of wood and wood is known to have the ability to absorb a lot of moisture from the air. At first, nothing looks wrong. If moisture lingers, it gets soaked in the wood and before you know what’s happening, the wood is either swelling or warping. Like other damages, wood warping occurs very slowly. You might not notice until the bend becomes obvious and almost irreparable.
Fabric and Soft Materials: Fabrics and other soft materials like clothes, curtains, sofas and carpets are also not spared from the wrath of humidity. These materials absorb moisture and if moisture doesn’t fully dry out, it can lead to a familiar problem—a musty smell.
Hidden Moisture in Stored Items: Stored items like boxes, books, shoes and others can also be seriously affected because they’ve been left untouched for long periods or kept in closed spaces that have moisture trapped inside. The longer they stay in the humid condition, the more damage that is done.
The Hidden Impact on Floors and Carpets
When talking about humidity damage, most people do not even think about floors because they assume humidity has to do with the air and other surfaces far above the ground. But there’s actually a lot more going on underneath. Let’s see how humid air affects the floors.
Trapped Moisture Below: Moisture from a humid room can accumulate under your rug or carpet and start causing damage to the flooring material. Most homeowners may not notice the damage that the moisture is causing because the top surface of the carpet is appearing okay. However, something else is going on underneath.
Slow Material Breakdown: Most times, the trapped moisture doesn’t cause damage instantly, instead, it gradually weakens the material. If the material is a carpet, you might start perceiving bad smells. But if it’s a wooden material, it either starts swelling slightly or it loses the smooth finish.
How Humidity Leads to Mold Growth
Mold doesn’t just appear randomly, instead, it grows in places where the conditions are right and the chief of those conditions is high humidity that leaves moisture behind. Since mold growth occurs more in hidden places, you might not notice it early. Mold can grow in corners, behind furniture, inside cupboards and other hidden places as long as moisture is present.
Structural Damage Over Time
When humidity stays high for a long time it usually goes beyond affecting surfaces in the home. High humidity can start to affect the structure of the home itself gradually.
Wood Rot and Weakening Materials: Wood is one of the most vulnerable building materials there is but it is still used for very important parts like beams, supports, door frames and even parts of the roof structure. If wood is exposed to high humidity for a long time it can absorb moisture from the air gradually and when that moisture doesn’t dry out, the wood begins to break down. The wood may feel softer than before and as time goes goes it’ll lose strength and start to warp or crack. If the moisture is excessive and the wood is soaked for too long,it gradually starts to rot.
Long-Term Impact on the Home: Increased humidity doesn’t stop at wood damage, it can affect other important parts of the building like plaster, paint and even adhesives used in construction.
Simple Ways to Control Indoor Humidity
Improve Ventilation: To control indoor humidity in your home, you have to do all you can to make sure fresh air moves smoothly through the rooms. There are two ways to achieve this; through opening windows and by using extractor fans. Your windows must stay open throughout the day or at least for some hours every day. This allows damp air to leave the house and fresh air to enter. Extractor fans can also be helpful for removing moist air in kitchen and bathrooms. As long as air is moving, you’ll not experience stale or musty smells in your home.
Adjust Daily Habits: If you change some everyday habits you might be able to reduce the amount of moisture that builds up in your indoor space. Some people run their hot showers for an extended period. This is not a good habit because it increases the amount of steam in your bathroom and if your extractor fan is not working, the steam will linger or spread to other rooms in your home. You should also avoid drying clothes in closed spaces or areas with limited air circulation.
Control Moisture at the Source: The best way to deal with humidity is to deal with moisture at the source. Do not allow wet towels or fabrics in places that are not well ventilated or where it won’t dry quickly. Always clean wet surfaces after use.
If you want to be in charge of humidity in your home, you don’t necessarily need to change your lifestyle. All you have to do is stay aware of how moisture behaves in your space and give it a room to exit your apartment so it doesn’t settle or build up.
Conclusion
Humidity issue usually starts like a joke with small signs like a change in air quality and it moves to more visible issues like paint peeling, furniture damage and mold growth. If you are not conversant with the small signs, you’ll not be able to detect it earlier. And before the obvious signs would show up, the real damage must have already begun. So never ignore the signs. Call a professional to do a thorough mold inspection if you suspect mold is already growing in your home. But it’s always best to do moisture inspection and prevent mold growth than allowing moisture to stay long enough to permit mold growth or cause damage to materials in your home.
