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help water condensating in the wall cavity-
We are finishing building a 2700 sqft ranch with 2x6 walls. The entire envelope of the interior of the house was sprayed with one inch of closed-cell foam. Then the rest of the wall cavity was filled with 4.5inches of blown fiberglass. The insulation contractor did not recommend a poly vapor barrier. The drywall was mudded, and sanded and painted with 3 coats of latex paint. Then the temperature here in Iowa dropped to 10 below zero for a few days, and water started dripping out of the bottom of the wall on to the sub floor. We ripped off some of the drywall and found that there was extreme condensation on the foam. The good news is that the studs are also coated with the foam, so the water is dripping down, and now drying out. This probably occured do to all the humidity in the house during the mudding and painting, and then the cold spell set it off. What should we do now? Tear off all the drywall and install vapor barrier? Or repaint the walls with a vapor retardant paint? I am leaning towards the last option. Just want to do things the right way. Do not want mold, etc. Am frustrated since we spent extra $$$$ on the foam, and the insulation contractor recommended against the vapor barrier.
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help water condensating in the wall cavity-
One inch of closed cell foam is like gortex. It stops water, but allows water vapor to pass through. The house was heated during the mudding and paint phase. The outside temp was around 30-40 degrees F. Then a cold spell hit, with nights at 10 below. The humidity in the house from all that paint and such was very high (you could see condensation on all the windows). That is typical of building in the winter. But all that humidity in the wall cavity hit that foam (which was now cool)and now you have condensation. If a poly vapor barrier had been installed, there would probably been much less water vapor in the wall in the first place.
I believe this happens quite often, and the water soaks into the OSB sheathing, and studs. In our house, they are coated with this skim coat of closed-cell foam and the water follows gravity and settles down the wall. Fiberglass and the foam will not wick the water. I just want the house to have no issues with water or mold in the walls down the road.
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help water condensating in the wall cavity-
The closed cell foam at one inch thick can breathe slowly. The question is: will the fiberglass dry out at a quick enough rate? I have 2 options: Leave it be, and make sure the paint has a good perm rating. Or tear out the drywall on exterior walls, tear out the fiberglass, and finish the wall cavity with closed cell foam. (3 to 3.5 total thickness) and no vapor barrier is need with that thickness of closed cell foam.
What a mess. I spent the extra money on the foam envelope and this would have worked fine if the head insulation manager would have done the same thing as the other 50 houses-install the vapor barrier before drywalling.
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help water condensating in the wall cavity-
I wanted everyone to know the latest on our situation with condensation in the wall cavity. As of last week, all the walls are bone dry. A company called Werner was hired to use negative air pressure and an industrial-size dehumidifier to dry out each room individually. The company specializes in drying out houses for situations like ours, or when fire sprinklers turn on and saturate the house. They shine an infrared gun at the walls which is calibrated for humidity and condensation. Therefore, they can guarantee the walls are dry. Looking under the drywall, the insulation is back to normal, dry, and unsettled. The insulation company is giving us a contract, guaranteeing that they stay dry each winter, or they will replace the insulation, and pay for any drywall or paint repair. They all stepped up to the plate after they did their research. Talking with insulation specialists and research scientists showed that the walls were victim to extreme humidity levels (which many houses face during construction with all that mud, texturing and paint, brand new drywall) and then the temp dropped to minus 10 for one week causing the condensation. All houses would get water in the walls (except ICF, or SIP panels, or solid cavity foam)with this scenario. Most would have soaked into the OSB, and dried out over 2 or 3 months. Our one inch of foam will let vapor threw, but not water in its liquid state. The research shows the walls will breath. We have an air exchanger, and this will keep the humidity correct, allowing the walls to stay dry even through a cold winter. I wish the HVAC guys would have hooked it up during the mudding and painting. Thanks for all your information, and I finally feel like things are back to normal. I feel like I have talked to every insulation specialist in the country. One thing I can take from this, is that what works in Florida, will not work in Minnesota, and southern Iowa falls somewhere in between.
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help water condensating in the wall cavity-
Willie, we will have a humdistat to monitor the humidity levels, so they stay correct (I have to research the recommended level, but it is somewhere between 30-40).
The house was over 60% humidity after all the mudding and texturing, etc. The air exchanger will keep the house from getting stale, keep unwanted odors and smells from building up, and keep humidity under control. The only way this would happen again, is if we installed a swimming pool or a big mamma hot-tub! Any wall that is not solid foam, ICF or a SIP panel can get a trace amount of condensation when the temp drops to minus 10 or so. (but not to the amount of what we faced, and this wall system can still breathe slowly) It would have cost another $4500 to do the house entirely in foam, (not including the $5000 that was already spent to foam the rim joist, heels of the trusses, and the one inch skim coat). And that doesn't include the price of the ceiling to r-40 and the garage.
ICF construction would have cost an additional $40000! The sky is the limit on how much you want to spend. I tried to get somewhere in the middle. We already spent an additional $9000 upgrading to 5 ton geothermal (with a 6 ton loop). Then another $1600 on the air exchanger. All in the matter of saving energy, and knowing we will be in the house for a long time. I am sure in 10 years there will be other options for efficiency, such as solar panel shingles (currently not cost effective) or wind generation. You just hope you made the right decisions.
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