Construction dehumidification
Hey All,
I know from all the great readings here that construction produces a lot of water.
I’m currently insulating and doing some final air sealing before drywall on a new construction build. It’s been over 6+ months since the foundation was poured, but the home did see a few storms before being dried in, and it’s snow country, which means boots and wet materials have been walking through the house often during the past couple of months. And I have been running a small propane heater.
Before and during drywall, I’m interested in doing some dehumidifying. I’m not going to have a whole-house ducted system, as I’m in dry Idaho, so a permanent solution doesn’t make sense. We do have a Broan ERV installed.
Curious — given the above info, do I need a commercial sized unit? Or could I have two, small units from the home supply story that run constantly? Heated SF is 2600. Or even one, small unit. It’s a 1.5 story home with a basement.
Thanks all,
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Replies
You are wise to run dehudification before sheetrock. The cement has hundreds of gallons in it, plus the propane heater was adding additional moisture (assuming it was unvented.) Figure it’ll probably take two years for construction moisture to abate in a tight building.
The risk is your framing swells from its kiln dried state then shrinks as it dries and your Sheetrock might not handle that movement—cracks, screw pops etc.
I’d think a couple high capacity home owner units if this is a one off and you aren’t in the trades. Sheetrock dust is hard on them so might want to build a DIY air scrubber (google corsi-rosenthal filter) to keep the dust down.
Thanks Norm -- makes sense and glad to hear I'm on the right track
There are companies that rent air conditioners for special events (think air conditioning for big tents for outdoor things like large weddings and the like). Try calling those places and see what they can offer for your application.
Often in dry conditions, just heating the structure a bit is enough to dry it out if you have some time to wait. You might want to get a moisture meter to be able to test the wood in the structure to see how damp it actually is.
Bill