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Re: GBlist: a treatise on straw bale
Well said, David! And remember that if a house is leaky in a cold climate, it
will not be humid inside, so the interior moisture source will be modest.
Exterior humidity in cold climates are less important - northern New England
has an average RH of about 70% all year round! But of course the absolute
humidity is much lower in the winter.
I think the key thing is buildings that don't get too wet from the exterior and
that can dry out.
As an example - I added an 8 x 12 deck to my house 1-1/2 years ago. It is in
front of an attached greenhouse, so it gets rainwater draining off of the 4
foot deep sloped glass above. I just noticed that the exterior trim on the
greenhouse just at deck level is too wet and decay has begun. What I did by
adding the deck (a freestanding structure BTW) is cause splash from the rain to
wet the trim (it used to fall to the grass below, and the wood ended a foot
above the ground), and i made it more difficult for the trim to dry (less air
circulation, less direct sun.) So my solution will be to gutter this sloped
glass to eliminate the principal wetting source, because to have a deck there I
can't easily promote the drying process.
Marc Rosenbaum
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