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You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Home Improvement--General > condensation on windows
Expert: Len Kroll - 11/4/2009
Question
Hi Mr Kroll, my mother and i live in northeast Ohio, she has a home that is about 6 yrs old, and when the weather changes from fall to colder temps, all her windows in the morning have condensation on them. Do you know what is causing and how to corredt this problem? Thank you, Gina
Answer
Gina,
Condensation is the result of high relative humidity in the house; when the moisture laden warm air comes in contact with the cold window surface condensation forms.
To correct this problem you must find the source of the moisture and eliminate it, or control it if it can't be eliminated. It is known that about 40% of moisture in homes comes from the crawl space. If you have a crawl space you need to be sure vapors from the ground in the crawl space are prevented from entering the house. This can be done with a vapor barrier, and/or proper venting, and/or dehumidification of the crawl space. Or, you can have the crawl space totally sealed following the newest technology concernig crawl space construction. This can be done by specialized companies providing this service.
All of the above can also apply to a basement. The problem is the same but the corrective actions are different but they are designed to cause the same outcome, to stop moisture from entering the conditioned space.
Other sources of moisture can be showers/baths, particularly if vents are not used in the bathrooms. Cooking, particularly boiling, stewing, steaming, etc. Rain water that is not directed away from the foundation which is absorbed into the foundation then release in the form of vapor into the building. Roof leaks that are not seen which wet attics or interior surfaces of walls. All of these and others need to be controlled to bring the relative humidity in the conditioned space between 40% and 60%. If controlling all of the above doesn't solve the problem it may be necessary to install a dehumidifier.
It is not adequate to simple wipe the windows dry because if condensation is forming it is sure that high humidity is present; wiping the windows doesn't get rid of the high humidity and it will condense some where else and possibly some where that you can't see and damage will result over time until the damage becomes visible and usually by then the cost to repair is significant.
Good luck.
Len Kroll
Wood House Construction, Inc.
Other sources of moisture in a house
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