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Kenmore, WA
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Lafayette, Louisiana
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 How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#2] Posted: 03/11/2011 - 08:08:38 AM |  |  |
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Been sitting empty with the AC off for long?
Might be worthwhile if the AC can be maintained in optimum condition, is installed properly and if adequate make-up air equipment is present.
Moisture issue should be easily remedied on such a simple and small house
I think you and I both reside in a zone 2 environment.
Marc
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"If Guam gets too overpopulated, it might tip over."
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Friday Harbor, WA
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#3] Posted: 03/11/2011 - 08:53:06 AM | | |
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Should be easy to lower the interior humidity by ventilating. It would be a very easy HRV install, or you could use a quiet inline bath fan on a timer switch. That's a small house, so occupant load could vary wildly--one person who has a f/t job and some outside activities is one thing, a family of four with three dogs and a fishtank is another.
I'm assuming that whatever drainage can be done has been done.
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Kenmore, WA
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Kenmore, WA
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#5] Posted: 03/11/2011 - 11:59:53 AM | | |
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I re-read my O.P. and it isn't clear.
I haven't yet been to the property, I've just looked at the same online listing y'all are looking at.
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Randy Navarro
http://www.thecompleteinspection.com |
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Victoria, British Columbia
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#6] Posted: 03/11/2011 - 3:09:49 PM | | |
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One thing I would look for in my cold clammy climate is a heat source in every room. In my area, that would likely be electric baseboard heaters, cheap and easy to install, but there needs to be at least 100 amps at the panel. The wall mounted fan heaters are better, but cost a bit more.
Is there any insulation in those walls? If not, pump some in and add some in the ceiling. Make sure the attic has ventilation.
Like Mike says, fix the leaky plumbing in the slab.
Or could you just abandon that old stuff and run a new line up and in through the wall?
Here's some other ideas:
Install a gutter on the back of that roof. 
Direct the downspouts away, preferably adding a buried drain when time allows.
Best to do what Mike says and replace all the drainage but they could have the perimeter drains around the slab inspected, and possibly cleaned and repaired. They are most likely concrete or clay tiles, clogged with crud, but sometimes the mud can be blown out of sections of them and then a new line to the storm drain can get drainage flowing again. If it was me, I'd just start digging up sections and replacing till it was all new.
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Collins, NY
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#7] Posted: 03/12/2011 - 08:29:46 AM | | |
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I don't think the 'mold' looks all that bad, could be just from sitting empty. I think $94 grand is a hell of a lot of money for it, around here that would be $40 tops, closer to $25 out in the boonies.
If it were mine I'd start by gutting it. Fix the plumbing as Mike said, then after all the wiring and heating is done; I'd lay 1" EPS on the floor covered with 1/2 OSB screwed to the slab (no need to remove the asbestos floor tiles), use 1 1/2" Dow Wallmate on the walls, and spray foam the roof deck and gable ends making certain the block cores are sealed at the top (they're either full of vermiculite or they're hollow and will generate stack effect contributing to ice dams). An 80 cfm bath fan will be plenty big enough to handle the moisture load, at 5000 cubic feet that's 2.6 air turns an hour. Everything outside is toast; the chimney needs pointing, the flashing is a mess, the roof cover needs to be mowed, and what's left of the gutters is a joke. I'd add overhangs before resurfacing the roof, and in my climate would cover the walls with Wallmate, Tyvek, and siding (maybe fiber cement, but I really like the look of NuCedar cellular vinyl) after touching up any block issues.
Even with access to all of those building materials at wholesale, it'd be hard to do all that with the asking price as the budget. It will never be worth $300/SF.
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Tom
http://clearcreekhomeinspection.com/
Life is tough enough as it is, it's tougher when your stupid. Don't do stupid things.
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Oak Park, IL
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#8] Posted: 03/12/2011 - 09:07:24 AM | | |
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Randy,
I think you should put in a radon mitigation system.
I was at a ventilation conference in Wisconsin a few years ago and the instructor had some pretty impressive stories about how sub-slab radon mitigation systems helped cure moisture problems in basements.
I like this idea better than dehumidification or an HRV because it's attacking the problem at its source rather than letting moisture get into the house and dealing with it there. Source control is always the way to go if it's possible.
Good luck.
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Steve Nations
NationsHomeInspections.com |
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Kenmore, WA
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#9] Posted: 03/12/2011 - 3:33:08 PM | | |
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Good stuff. Thanks.
Steve, there really isn't any radon in Western Washington.
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Randy Navarro
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Oak Park, IL
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Chicago, IL
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#11] Posted: 03/12/2011 - 4:39:41 PM | | |
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Where are you finding excessive radon?
Average working levels around here are pretty low. Not that you can't pull a number, but working levels are low.
At least, that's been the result of my tests. We pull spikes from time to time, but on all the houses where I've actually been able to do real testing, the working levels are marginal.
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Georgetown, KY
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#12] Posted: 03/12/2011 - 5:23:32 PM | | |
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Remember that a radon system doesn't just take out radon. It also takes out other nasty soil gases and excess moisture from under the slab.
You don't have to have radon to benefit from the technology.
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Erby Crofutt
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Kenmore, WA
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#13] Posted: 03/13/2011 - 12:08:51 AM | | |
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The only hot spots for radon in Washington State are Spokane - a five hour drive east - and Vancouver - a three and a half hour drive south of that house.
ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!
Mike
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Gaston, Oregon
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Victoria, British Columbia
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#15] Posted: 03/13/2011 - 09:00:42 AM | | |
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From the sounds of it, we could have a cloud of Japanese radon coming our way soon.
From what I've read, radon originates from uranium deposits, so it would occur in scattered locations just about anywhere.
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Kenmore, WA
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Oak Park, IL
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Wausau, Wisconsin
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charleston, sc
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How Would You Dry This House Out?
[#19] Posted: 02/14/2012 - 12:24:30 PM | | |
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why did the house sell for 27,00 in 2010?
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