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Related Concept
  • building: damage and failures
  • fungi: damage to buildings
  • moisture in buildings
  • BC leaky condos
  • fungi and molds in buildings and their envelopes
  • fungi: molds in buildings



    • Related Articles
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  • moisture is the number one cause of building envelope failure and problem
  • Moisture problems in buildings
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    		• Concept:

    moisture damages and problems for buildings

    "Uncontrolled moisture accumulation in the building envelope reduces the structural integrity of its components through mechanical, chemical and biological degradation."

    "Moisture damages to building envelope have been present in several dramatic envelope failure cases in the North America, such as the Vancouver condos, North Carolina EIFS housing units, and recent Seattle leaky homes. The findings from field investigations point to the need to improve construction methods and workmanship, to the design community to improve its understanding of the processes involved, and to the research community to provide proper design guidelines to avoid these problems in the future.

    Over the last decade, failures in wood-based building systems have reached billions of dollars in damages in North America, many of which involved the deterioration of sheathing panels. Some of the well-known cases are: fungal decay in framing and sheathing in leaky condominiums of Vancouver that involved over CDN $1 billion in damages, decay in sheathing in North Carolina that involved the first class settlement of US $20 million in 1998, decay in framing and sheathing in leaky condominiums in Seattle with damage over US $100 million." - (Concordia CRD project survey)

    Excess moisture in envelopes may lead to dimensional change, biodegrading fungal growth, and eventual failures of sheathing and other envelope components. Furthermore, the presence of molds in the envelope may result in the migration of mold products in the indoor air. The source of moisture is mainly rain penetration through exterior cladding and through joints of fenestration integrated in the wall assembly. Moisture carried through air exfiltration and to a lesser degree by water vapor diffusion can also contribute to moisture accumulation.

    "These problems include warping and twisting of framing members, resulting in a loss of airtightness; mold, mildew and deterioration of the wood, leading to structural damage and reduced air quality; reduction in the effectiveness of thermal insulation; paint peeling; and nail popping."--This link was checked on Dec. 2006Online source

    Classified as: Clean, moisture stained, and mold growth by Baxter et al, 2002, A regional comparison of mold spore concentrations outdoors and inside clean and mold contaminated southern California buildings

    Haverinen et al. 2003 stated that "Information on moisture damage was obtained using pre-designed checklists and included variables that were assumed to have an effect on the exposure: (1) estimated area of damage, (2) location of damage in the house, (3) estimated duration of damage, (4) type of observation, (5) estimated class of severity, (6) repair information, (7) damaged structure type, and materials used as (8) interior fnishing, (9Moisture problems in Canadian housing) interior covering and (10) supportive structure at the damage site."

    "Moisture is a primary agent of premature deterioration of building materials. Damage induced by uncontrolled moisture includes rotting of wood-based materials, efflorescence and spalling of masonry systems and rusting of metal studs and fasteners. Excessive moisture in the envelope may promote the growth of moulds and hence, may affect the health of occupants. -- This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006NRC Building Science Insight Seminar Series 2003



    Tidbits

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    This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006Moisture problems in Canadian housing



    Web Links (6): Notes
      This link was checked on Dec. 2006A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home - EPA
      "Guide provides information and guidance for homeowners and renters on how to clean up residential mold problems and how to prevent mold growth. "

      This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006Articles on timber and dampness, Graham Coleman
      articles that "purely technical and explanatory whilst othere may considered, at least by some, to be of a contraversial nature dispelling some of the mythology relating to dampness and timber infestation"

      This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006BC Housing - Web links
      "provides hyperlinks to a number of related housing web sites as a public service. Following is a list of categories of the hyperlinks found on this and other pages. " by This link was checked on Dec. 2006BC Housing

      This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006IEA Annex 14: Condensation and Energy
      "provided architects, building owners, practitioners as well as researchers, with a better knowledge and understanding of the physical background of these phenomena (critical) conditions for mould growth, material characteristics related to the problems, it has also provided them with better computation models taking air, heat and moisture transfer into account in order to predict properly the phenomena of surface condensation and possible solutions to avoid it."

      This link was checked on Dec. 2006Indoor Air - Mold/Moisture
      Mold resources: basic, clean up, health, building, indoor air, Asthma.

      This link was broken when checked on Dec. 2006Seattle Report
      "35 walls were evaluated for their hygrothermal response to environmental loads present in the greater Seattle area"

    Related References (41)
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    2001 Building Failures Study, by Marshall, R. R., 2001
    field study, new northwest homes
    A field study of indoor moisture problems and damage in new northwest homes, by Tsongas, G., 1992
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    An Overview of the Survey of Building Envelope Failures in the Coastal Climate of British Columbia, Performed by Morrisson-Hershfield Limited for CMHC (1996), by Rousseau, M., 1999
    on evaporator
    Analytical and experimental study of the effects of the oil on the heat transfer coefficient of condensing refrigerant vapour at the external surface of plain horizontal tubes, by Al-Kalamchi, A., 1984
    chapter 22 p 22.12
    Building ventilation : a pressure airflow model computer generation and elements of validation, by Boyer, H. et al, 1999
    case studies-good
    Case Studies of Moisture Problems in Residences, by Tsongas, G., 1994
    ice dam
    Case study - ice dam remediation for Northeast ski area condominiums, by Fennell, H. C., 1998
    --------
    Characterizing moisture damaged buildings - environmental and biological monitoring, by Hyv?rinen, A., 2002
    --------
    Comparison of two-level and three-level classifications of moisture-damaged dwellings in relation to health effects , by Haverinen, U., Husman, T., Vahteristo, M., Koskinen, O., Moschandreas, D., Nevalainen, A. and Pekkanen, J., 2001
    moisture problem,
    Condensation risk assessment, by Janssens, A. and H. Hens, 1998
    Seattle condo EIFS house
    Condo owners' deluge of woe, by Sorensen, E., 1998
    BC condos
    Condominium Act of British Columbia, by BC, 1996
    --------
    Contemporary and traditional wall-system failures, by Beasley, K., 2001
    IRC CBD on basic
    Crawl space air change, heat and moisture behaviour, by Kurnitski, J., 2000
    repair
    Development of safe repair methods for water damaged buildings, by Kulmala, I. Antti Souto, and Vesa M?kip??, 2000
    ASTM guide to limit water damage
    E241-04 Standard Guide for Limiting Water-Induced Damage to Buildings, by ASTM, 2004
    More than three-quarters of all building damages registered due to water and moisture
    Effects of climate change on built environments, by Lis?, K.R, 2001
    repairing in moisture-damaged school
    Evaluation of priorities for repairing in moisture-damaged school buildings in Finland, by Lappalainen, S., K?hk?nen, E., Loikkanen, P., Palom?ki, E., Lindroos, O. and Reijula, K., 2001
    --------
    Exterior insulation and finish systems, by Nisson, N. and Best, D., 1999
    --------
    Improved health after intervention in a school with moisture problems, by Ahman, M., Lundin, A., Musabasic, V., Soderman, E., 2000
    --------
    Look to interior for source of moisture that causes rot , by Gustavson, M., 2000
    in room air
    Moisture and Air: Problems and Remedies. A Householder's Guide Renovator's Technical Guide, by CMHC, 1900
    moisture control
    Moisture control in enclosure wall systems, by Straube,J.F, 1995
    in school
    Moisture damage in schools - symptoms and indoor air microbes, by Meklin, T., Husman, T. and Vepselainen, A., 2000
    roofs of cold storage buildings
    Moisture in the roofs of cold storage buildings, by Tobiasson, W. N., Greatorex, A. R., Fabian, B. A., 1998
    --------
    Moisture problems in manufactured housing: probable causes and cures, by Moyer, N.A., D. Beal, D. Chasar, J. McIlvaine, C. Withers and S. Chandra, 2001
    --------
    Moisture problems in walls, by Hansen, A. T., 1984
    mold odor problem in bedroom in a house,
    Mold, a poltergeist, by Wemhoff, P., 2001
    --------
    Mycotoxins in crude building materials from water-damaged buildings, by Tuomi, T., Reijula, K., Johnsson, T., Hemminki, K., Hintikka, E.L., Lindroos, O., Kalso, S., Koukila-Kahkola, P., 2000
    --------
    Pioneering Building Envelope Commissioning to Prevent Moisture Intrusion, by Scott, R., Aia, N. and Macphaul, D., 2005
    in wall cavity
    Predicting decay rates in structures: the effects of wood moisture content on decay rate, by Morrell, J. J., 2000
    problem identification BSI/IRC/NRC
    Rain penetration and moisture damage in residential construction, by Rousseau, J., 1983
    non destructive test method
    Review of non-destructive test methods for assessing strength, serviceability and deterioration in buildings, by IRC, 1996
    chimney
    Solving a chimney moisture problem, by Ponessa, J., 1999
    moisture damage and solution in one appartment
    Solving persistent moisture problems and moisture damage, by CMHC, 0
    --------
    Submission to the Second Commission of Inquiry into the Quality of Condominium Construction, by UDI, 2000
    --------
    The effect of air leakage through the moisture damaged structures in a school building having mechanical exhaust ventilation, by Backman, E., Hyv?rinen, M., Lindberg, R., Reiman, M., Seuri, M. and Kokotti, H., 2000
    --------
    The rising damp myth (paperback), by Howell, J., 2008
    principle and practices
    Transient heat and moisture transfer through building envelope under rain precipitation, by Matsumoto, M., 1995
    Alberta
    Wall moisture problems in Alberta dwellings, by Building Envelope Engineering Inc, 2000
    in exterior wall
    Water problems in building exterior walls: evaluation, prevention, and repair, by Boyd, J. M. and Scheffler, M. J. (ed.), 1999


    CRDBER, at CBS, BCEE, ENCS, Concordia,