Why Homes Feel More Damp During Certain Seasons
Do you experience more dampness in your home in some seasons of the year than other seasons? If you answered Yes, then let’s dive into this seasonal pool together.
When a house is damp, the signs are usually there; you might notice things like droplets on your windows or a faint musty odor that doesn’t stop smelling in the house. Now, if these signs come and go with the seasons or they’re more obvious at certain times of the year, then it’s not a coincidence, what you’re experiencing is a seasonal dampness issue.
Dampness doesn’t just happen in a home whenever or however it wants, there are usually triggers than enable it or facilitate it. Some of the popular triggers of dampness in a home include moisture in the air, temperature changes, poor ventilation and others. Now, there’s one dampness trigger that many homeowners are not familiar with and it is dampness caused by seasonal weather patterns.
Each season behaves in a very different way. For instance, during colder months, it is very normal for warm indoor air to be attracted to colder surfaces in the house and when this happens you may find condensations on those surfaces. Warmer months have their own characteristics too. When the weather is warm, the humidity level inside a house can rise drastically and even overwhelm the ventilation process through windows and doors, and this can increase the amount of trapped moisture in the air or lead to dampness in the house. There are other conditions like rainfall or sudden temperatures swings outdoors that can make dampness issues escalate. So, why should you be worried about dampness? Many homeowners ignore dampness issues because they feel they can cope with the little discomforts like stale smells or sweaty feeling in the room. But dampness can cause mold growth and this can give rise to very serious issues like health problems and it can affect the structural integrity of the house. This is why you must never ignore dampness the moment you notice that it comes and goes with the seasons. When you overlook dampness issues, what started as minor condensation or faint smell can end up causing serious problems that’ll require the attention of a professional.
If you call a professional early, they can carry out moisture inspection to rule out the possibility of lingering moisture in air. But if the problem has been persistent for a long time and mold has spread all over your house, you’ll need a mold remediation expert to remove all the molds.
When you understand why your home feels damp at certain times of the year, it’ll be easier for you to prevent the issue and keep your home healthy and protected all year round
What Dampness Actually Means in a Home
When most homeowners want to describe dampness, they usually do so using signs like a musty smell or condensation on surfaces. But dampness is more than these small discomforts. In the real sense, dampness is a measurable condition that is caused by excess moisture in the air, in building materials or in other areas of a home. There are two general causes of dampness in a home and they are humidity and water intrusion.
Humidity: Humidity is the amount of moisture that is in the air. Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, if you take a sample of air in your environment, you’ll find some amount of moisture in it. The acceptable range of humidity in a home is between 30 to 50%. If it rises above this range the air might start feeling heavier and moisture may gradually start settling on surfaces in the house. After some time, you may start seeing obvious damp spots in your home.
Water Intrusion: Water intrusion is the actual movement of water into surfaces or materials in your home. Water can enter through leaks in your roof, cracks in the foundation, flooding and failure of pipes in your plumbing. When water seeps into walls or other materials in your home, it sits deep inside for a long time and may lead to dampness.
If you’re faced with humidity issues, you can easily manage the situation by ensuring proper ventilation through open windows and doors or by using a reliable humidifier. But if the dampness problem is as a result of water intrusion, you’ll need a water damage restoration service from professionals. If the water intrusion is caused by flood then a flood damage restoration service will be needed.
Common Signs of Dampness
When a room is damp, the signs are not always obvious. Although some signs are visible and easy to detect, others come in very subtle ways and they build up gradually before they may eventually become noticeable.
Some of the common indicators include
Musty odor: One of the easiest ways to know that a room is damp is when you open the room and notice a stale or musty smell. This smell usually lingers even after you’ve thoroughly cleaned the place.
Condensation: When you wake up some mornings, you might see water droplets on the windows or glasses. These droplets are a sign that moisture is heavy in the air and if this continues, it’ll make the house damp.
Other signs of dampness are discoloration on walls and ceilings, warped woods and peeling paints.
Seasonal Breakdown: Why Homes Feel Damp at Different Times of the Year
One very important thing that you need to understand about humidity/dampness inside an apartment is that it does not usually stay the same throughout the year. As the weather outdoors is changing, the temperature inside and outside your house is also changing, and these changes are always followed by a change in the levels of humidity. When humidity level rises, the house easily becomes damp. As a homeowner, it’s important that you understand that the conditions that cause a house to be damp during winter are totally different from those that cause dampness during summer. Every season has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. If you live in an area where the winter is almost extreme, the summer is highly humid or there’s frequent rainfall, your home will be more prone to temperature fluctuations and dampness will always be around you. Also, if your home is older, has a basement or the ventilation within the house is limited, you’ll most likely experience more seasonal dampness. Let’s look at the seasons of the year and what causes dampness in each.
Winter Season: Condensation and Trapped Moisture
The winter season is usually between December and February and during this period it’s difficult for homeowners to experience dampness as a result of direct water intrusion. When winter comes and snow starts falling, the temperatures outside the house are usually very low. To stay comfortable while indoors, most homeowners turn to different heating methods like natural gas furnaces, heat pumps, electric heaters, wood stoves and others. These heaters make the air inside the house warmer. Meanwhile, other surfaces like windows, walls or pipes that have direct contact with the outdoors usually remain very cold. This creates a contrasting condition in the house.
During winter, the windows and doors are usually closed which makes it difficult for the warm air generated to escape. Since the warm air has nowhere to go it lingers until it comes in contact with the cold surfaces. As soon as the warm air settles on the cold surfaces, it cools down and allows condensation to take place. Over time, this can form water droplets on your windows and if the window frame is made of wood, the moisture may seep into it and make the frame or its surrounding damp. The moisture doesn’t settle on windows only, it can also rest on walls and make them damp.
Modern homes are usually more prone to dampness because they’re built with enough insulation and all the exit points are tightly sealed. This makes it impossible for moisture to escape naturally.
Amongst all the rooms in a house, the basement is the most vulnerable room for dampness during winter. The reason is because the basement is sitting below ground level and it is usually cooler than the other rooms in the house. This obvious coolness results in a massive temperature difference which encourages condensation in the basement. A basement is always wet during winter even when there’s no visible leak because condensation takes place there all day long.
So how does one fish out dampness during winter? There’s no quick answer to this because dampness can’t be seen. You can’t use a mix of sensory checks and simple DIY tests to determine if your home is getting damp. If that doesn’t work, then, you can call for a professional moisture inspection. The expert will check places that are most prone to condensation and determine if moisture is higher there.
Spring Season: Rainfall, Snowmelt, and Basement Moisture
We discovered that winter dampness is caused by activities inside the house like heating, bathing, cooking and the rest. But when it comes to Spring season, the culprits are usually from outside the house.
When spring comes, the temperatures outside the home will start to rise and you’ll see snow and ice melting. You may also notice an increase in rainfall. Now, this melting and rainfall combination releases a massive amount of water to the external environment. The resulting water often leads to saturated soil which leads to springtime dampness. How does it happen?
When rain falls or snow melts, water in the surroundings soaks the soil and at some point the soil becomes saturated. This saturation pushes water against the foundation walls and after some time the water pressure forces some moisture through tiny cracks or any weak points in the structure. The wall of your basement is one of the first victims, it’ll gradually get soaked and become damp. This dampness may rise and spread to other rooms in the house. Even when there’s no flooding in your area, your home may still experience high levels of moisture.
It is also during the spring season that hidden cracks and minor leaks become obvious. Water may find its way in through damaged water proofing systems that were unnoticed during winter. If you suspect heavy moisture activity or dampness inside your house during spring, it’s advisable that you call an expert for water damage restoration service.
Summer: High Humidity and Poor Ventilation
Summer season comes with its own type of challenges which is high humidity levels in the air. Normally, warm air holds more moisture than cold air. So, as temperature indoors and outdoors rises, the amount of moisture that air can hold or that’s circulating at any time becomes higher.
When moisture-filled air enters your house through open windows and doors, it’ll raise the humidity level in the house. And if there’s no proper ventilation or the dehumidifier in the house is not working, the moisture-filled air that enters will become trapped inside the house. What you’ll experience next is uncomfortable indoor air, condensation in hidden or cool spots and dampness on walls and other surfaces.
Most homeowners rely on air conditioning systems to reduce humidity levels in their homes but this same equipment can contribute to the problem if it is not working properly. If you do not maintain the system properly or the filters are clogged, it will not be able to remove moisture from the house.
Another challenge you might encounter during the summer season is condensation. Condensation forms when there’s so much moisture in the air and the moist air comes in contact with cold surfaces like pipes or cool walls. This can create damp spots that are out of sight and before you know it the problem will snowball from mere dampness into mold growth.
Fall Season: Temperature Swings and Moisture Build-Up
Most people do not consider fall as one of the seasons with possible dampness issues, but this season is worth looking critically at. During this season, there’s usually a sharp shift in temperatures outdoors. In the afternoons, the weather is usually very warm but when the sun sets in the evening the temperatures drop drastically. During the day, the warm air holds a huge amount of moisture but as temperature drops at night, the air will no longer be able to hold much moisture and most of the moisture it gathered in the daytime is released on cold surfaces. This repeated cycle is cooling at night and heating during the day continues to cause condensation and moisture from the condensation process will settle on different surfaces or materials and cause them to become damp.
Aside from sharp temperature shifts caused by heating during the day and cooling at night, another common issue that causes dampness in a home during fall season is exterior maintenance. During this season, most trees usually shed their leaves. As the leaves drop, they clog drainage and restrict free flow of water. If water is not allowed to move as it wills, it will gather around the foundation or near the walls and gradually start seeping into the walls of the house.
It is also during this season that many homeowners start closing their windows in preparation for the colder months. When windows are closed, it reduces ventilation and the moisture already in the air remains trapped in the house. If the windows are closed for a long time, the rooms will start getting damp.
If you understand how each season creates or adds moisture into a home, it’ll be easier for you to take proactive steps to prevent dampness. This means that you’ll no longer have to wait until you see the visible signs of dampness. Instead, you’ll already know when and where moisture is likely to develop and you’ll be prepared to address it before it permits mold growth or causes other problems.
Preventing Dampness All Year-Round
We’ve seen how seasonal changes can increase moisture in a home and cause the house to become damp. But even at that, it’s possible to prevent some of these moisture problems if you take the necessary prevention steps. Let’s see what homeowners need to do to prevent dampness in their homes throughout the year.
Ensure Proper Ventilation: One of the first steps to take to prevent moisture buildup that leads to dampness in any of the seasons of the year is to ensure sufficient airflow. When there’s proper ventilation, humid air or moisture will not be able to settle on surfaces because they’ll be carried away by air flowing in and out of the house. The simplest way to ensure adequate ventilation of all rooms in the house is to open all the windows whenever the weather permits. If there’s too much cold outside or it’s raining frequently, you can rely on the HVAC system to create a balance in the humidity level. During warmer seasons, many homeowners run the extractor fans in their bathrooms and kitchens for a little longer so as to reduce the warm air inside these rooms. Lastly, you can also use a humidifier if the weather is highly humid. This device will help keep the humidity level within the recommended range of 30-50%.
Inspect for Moisture and Leaks Regularly: Many homeowners do not look out for moisture as much as they should, especially moisture in the form of small leaks. If you inspect your plumbing, windows, basement area and roofing regularly, you’ll be able to detect moisture issues early enough before it spreads and starts causing problems. A thorough moisture inspection service is highly recommended for people whose houses are older or have a history of water intrusion. You can check for leaks yourself if you see signs of water dripping from a place or if you see water accumulating in a particular spot, but it’s always advisable to let a professional do the checks. When you call a leak detection expert, they’ll help you spot leaks that are happening out of sight so as to prevent dampness or other damages related to moisture presence.
Professional Solutions for Seasonal Dampness
Dampness as a result of seasonal changes can cause big issues for homeowners and their buildings if it is not addressed as soon as possible. Although many homeowners use simple solutions like fans and dehumidifiers to reduce the amount of moisture within a space, these solutions are usually temporary and they may not address the dampness issue once and for all. To ensure a lasting solution that deals with the root of the problem, it’s a good idea to call on experts in the field. A professional will not only prevent the issue, they’ll also address already existing dampness issues so that it’ll not end up causing mold growth or structural damage to your building.
Moisture Control and Leak Repair: The first thing that any professional will do when they come to your house is to find out where moisture is coming from. A professional moisture inspection will take you straight to the location of moisture intrusion. It’ll tell if you have moisture in crawl spaces, ceilings or walls. When the damp or moisture spot is detected, they move to resolve it quickly to prevent moisture from returning continuously.
Water and Flood Damage Restoration: If the dampness was caused by heavy rainfall or leak in the plumbing, you’ll need a professional flood restoration service. Make sure you do not delay this service because the longer you take to call a professional, the more water that’ll soak the walls and other materials.
Mold Remediation and Indoor Air Protection: When a place is left damp for too long, the air within the space would be contaminated and mold will start growing in hidden places. With a professional remediation service, you can remove contaminated air safely and also take out mold infested materials without spreading mold to other places or rooms.
If the affected building is bigger or it is used for business, you can call for commercial mold remediation and professionals will come with equipment that can handle large scale containment, removal and restoration processes.
Conclusion
Almost all the seasons of the year cause dampness in homes one way or the other. Dampness doesn’t form due to one factor only, it’s formed as a result of several factors like change in temperature, humidity levels, rainfall, condensation, poor ventilation and many more. The season with the most record for dampness issues in homes is winter and this is because it’s the season where people close all doors/windows to keep the home warm. This makes condensation occur more during winter. The next most damp season is usually the fall and this is because it’s a transition season. During fall, the home is trying to adapt to a sudden shift from warm daytime to cold nights. The summer is next and it comes with very high relative humidity that makes indoor air to be moist. Spring is usually seen to have the lowest risk of dampness issues but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of dampness. When you understand each of these seasons and how they generate moisture inside a house you’ll be well positioned to prevent dampness and make your house comfortable all year round.
