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How to deal with Moisture and Humidity in your Home!

Did you know Vancouver Island is a Rainforest? Not your typical broad-leaf plants and monkeys’ type of rainforest, – It’s called the coastal temperate rainforest. It consists of conifers, ferns and animals like deer and salamanders. With living in a rainforest, comes humidity. Humidity problems usually occur during our cooler months, as we see an increase in wet weather and colder temperatures. Generally, during these months we keep our windows and outside doors closed more, and this reduces indoor air circulation and ventilation.

Your day-to-day household activities such as cooking, showering, doing laundry and dishwashing can release as much as 10-50L of moisture into your home a day. People, pets and indoor plants also contribute to humidity.

Signs of high humidity levels:

• Property may feel clammy
• Property has a musty odor
• Water pooling on windowsills or sliding doors
• Wet carpets at the bottom of big glass windows
• Water stains on walls or ceilings, this can be worse in closets.
• Mold spores around Windows

How to reduce high humidity levels:

• Crack your windows a small amount for a few hours per day
• Always use kitchen fan when cooking
• Turn on bathroom fan when showering or bathing
• Leave bathroom fans on for several hours per day
• Limit the amount of indoor potted plants
• In many apartment buildings, there may be a small air gap below your entry door, this creates airflow, do not block this air gap

• Open drapes and blinds for at least a few hours per day
• Ensure a 1 inch gap at the bottom of closets doors, or leave closet doors open
• Do not cover or place boxes against outer walls or windows
• Provide heat to all outer wall areas
• Ensure furniture is not covering heaters
• Maintain temperatures around 20˚C
• Do not directly place furniture up against walls, where possible, try to put furniture against internal walls which will be less cold than external walls.

If you are away from home for longer periods of time in the cooler months, ensure that your home stays between 15˚C and 18˚C and ensure that there is adequate airflow throughout the home.

If ignored, humidity can cause serious structural problems and can spread quickly from walls onto soft furnishings, clothing and furniture causing further disrepair. You should always report on-going humidity issues to your Property Manager so they can investigate further.

Are you looking for a new place to call home? Contact Kim Ashton at kima@thepropertymanagers.ca  These are stressful times and looking for a new rental home is already challenging; it doesn’t need to be more hectic. We’ve created a new service to help you find the right home or apartment that meets your personal and financial needs. Let us take some of the stress off you. Get in touch today and let us advocate on your behalf.

Photo by Iwan Beijes from FreeImages