Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Freezing condensation a concern for homeowners
Question: After a previous winter’s two weeks of sub-zero temperatures here in Calgary, what I believe to be the cold air return piping started to drip water through some tears in the insulation covering the pipe. I understand that this is caused by condensation. Apparently, this has happened before because I noticed that the steel straps holding up the pipe shows rust on them. However, it is the first time that I have noticed water dripping from the insulation wrapping the pipe. The insulated pipe has been there for at least 35 years, although the furnace was replaced 21 years ago with a mid-efficiency Lennox natural gas furnace. Can I replace this existing solid metal pipe with a flexible insulated one? I have an air intake piping that is flexible and it works fine. Your advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Robert Mercer, Calgary
Answer: Replacing properly sized and installed metal ducting with lower quality materials will surely compromise airflow and should not be attempted. Finding the cold air leakage contributing to the condensation and stopping that will be a much better solution.
It is unusual, but not unheard, of to have condensation and leakage from return air ducting attached to the furnace plenum. This may occur in ducts that are located in an unheated or poorly insulated crawlspace, or if the ducts are in contact with a cold foundation wall. I am not sure where your ducts are located, but I would suspect that one of these situations is present in your home. Otherwise, there is no need to install insulation on the ducts, as they normally travel through the floors and interior walls of your heated home.
There is also another possibility, and that is the pipes you are looking at are not return air ducts, but some sort of fresh air intake. It is common for homes of a certain age to have a duct connected to a vent hood on the exterior of the home, terminating in the return air ducting. This was done to add fresh air to the home for adequate ventilation. These insulated ducts were often connected to the return air system, a fair distance away from the furnace, and were designed to passively draw fresh air into the heating system for circulation. The theory is that when the furnace blower comes on, this would pressurize the heating ducts, as the warm air is forced through to the registers in the rooms. This will put the return air ducts under lower pressure, as the heated air cools and flows back towards the furnace. This low pressure will cause fresh air from the outside to be drawn in to the return air ducting through the insulated pipe. When the furnace turns off, the pressure in these ducts will drop almost to neutral, and the cold air flow from outside will be minimal at that point in time.
Unfortunately, home systems do not always work as designed and there may be other factors in the home that cause air pressure changes. Particularly when exhaust fans are running, the clothes dryer, or kitchen range hoods are operating, it can cause the air pressure in the home to drop, drawing cold air in through the fresh air duct. In really cold weather, like your previous winter, this air can condense on its way to the furnace through the fresh air duct or return air ducting. If it is cold enough, this condensation will freeze until the weather warms. At that point, the frost will melt and leak through into the insulation or through gaps in the ducts. If it is a fresh air pipe, not the return air ducting, which is the source of your problem, replacement or re-insulation is the solution. Using pre-insulated, flexible plastic ducting for this purpose is fine, as the air coming in is under very low pressure and it doesn’t matter if it is slightly restricted. Often the insulation in this type of ducting, or fibreglass wrapped around metal pipes, will become saturated with the products of condensation and will become useless. At that point, replacement with new materials should help.
If the sweating ducts in question are return air ones directly connected to the furnace then another issue should be investigated. In that situation, there must be some area that is allowing excessively cold air to contact the metal ductwork, which is allowing the relatively warm inside to condense. Since the duct is already insulated, this is likely in a difficult to reach area, like a crawlspace. The solution is to find the source of the cold air and insulate or seal that spot. This may require insulating a previously uninsulated foundation wall or grade beam. If the ducting is installed inside an exterior wall, or directly up against a cold foundation wall, moving the duct further inside the home is the best course of action. Either way, replacing the return air duct with a flexible pipe can significantly reduce the airflow, due to the corrugations in the piping, and should not be used. Replacement with proper metal ducting materials, relocated to a warmer spot, is the right course of action, in that case.
Replacing ducts that are wet and leaking with flexible ones may not provide adequate return air to the furnace from that area. Finding the source of the cold air causing the condensation, and sealing or insulating that area, should be the proper method for eliminating the problem in your home.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
Fresh gasket will make fridge seal good as new
Question: I was wondering how to get condensation out of my fridge. Thanks, Bev
Answer: The most common reason for condensation build-up inside the refrigerator stems from a worn gasket. Test the unit by holding a five dollar bill up to the open door. Close the door and pull on the bill. If it comes out without resistance, chances are that the seal is worn. Purchase and install a new gasket. Before replacing the gasket, remove the screws and soak it in warm water so that it is easier to work with. A new gasket will tightly seal the fridge, so that air will not transfer from outside to inside the unit.
Question: Many of the jackets and suits that I purchase are sold with an extra button. Any suggestions of how I can organize and store the buttons so that I don’t lose them? Thank you, Sherise
Answer: One option is to sew the extra button onto the inside label of the garment. Some people tape the extra button onto the blank side of a business card. Label the business card with which garment the button matches. The business card is then put inside a book style business card holder set apart specifically for spare garment buttons.
Question: Is there a difference between evaporated and condensed milk other than the fact that sweetened milk costs more?
Answer: The difference between evaporated and condensed milk is the sugar content: only one is sweetened. Both begin as whole milk. When making evaporated milk, the milk is heated until about 60 per cent of the water is evaporated. Condensed milk is made by blending whole milk with sugar (which accounts for the price difference). It is then heated until about 60 per cent of the water is evaporated. There is a difference in the flavours of both, which may make a difference when substituting one for another in recipes.
Question: My white sheets are yellowing, I imagine from body oils, that I can’t get out. I’ve tried baking soda and a few other things, but nothing is working. I just want nice white sheets again. Can you suggest anything? Thank-you, Pam
Answer: My favourite solution for brightening sheets is to soak them in washing soda and very hot water for 10 minutes. Or if you have a very large pot, boil them in the solution. Washing soda may be purchased online and at many grocery stores, in the laundry section. Fabric safe bleach is another option. Hang them outside to dry or lay them on the grass. Worst case scenario, re-dye the sheets using white Rit dye, according to the directions on the box. To prevent sheets from yellowing in the future, add a half cup vinegar to every wash.
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first.
Have a great suggestion or tip? Please send an email at: info@reena.ca. Reena Nerbas is a popular motivational presenter for large and small groups; check out her website: reena.ca.
Renovation & Design
Send fruit flies packing
Question: How can I get rid of fruit flies? They come out every fall and stay until winter, even though I don’t leave any food on my counters. Lynda
Answer: After years of setting out fruit fly traps, this week I discovered a faster trick for getting rid of fruit flies, and it is simple. Set out a little container of vinegar, use plastic wrap to cover the top and make a hole in the wrap, so the flies can smell the vinegar. The flies will sit on the container, deciding whether to go into the hole. Find a spray bottle and fill it with water. Spray the flies with a forceful spray, and since they are small, they won’t be able to handle the water. End of story.
Question: Do you recommend rubbing alcohol to remove bleach stains on grey shoes, or something else? Darrell
Answer: Bleach stains are not marks that can be removed because the dye is gone from the textile. Instead, you would need to redye or apply shoe polish — depending on the type of textile this will add colour back to the shoes.
Question: I spilled ink on my hardwood floor and it has left a blue tinge on the wood, as well as a dull appearance. I am wondering what I can do to remove the stain without wrecking my floor. Thank-you, Sami
Answer: The challenges when tackling stains on hardwood are that: any aggressive solutions will damage the finish, and there are huge varieties of hardwood floors and finishes available. Therefore, if you were to use a product such as paint thinner, you would very likely get rid of the stain, but permanently strip the finish. In some cases, light steel wool and regular floor cleaners have had great success.
If this were my floor, I would do what I did when my kids wrote with permanent marker on my mother-in law’s wood table. Make a solution of baking powder and dish soap, scrub the area with a light abrasive pad (not an S.O.S pad). Next brew about six bags of tea and let stand until lukewarm. Dampen a white rag in the tea and wipe onto hardwood floor. Repeat until the entire floor is clean.
Tips and tricks
I want to share a tip that I discovered last year. Instead of taking hours to sweep out debris and dirt in my garage, I use my leaf blower. With earplugs, safety glasses and a dust mask on, I can clean the entire garage in about 10 minutes, and I don’t need to move heavy furniture before I clean. — Ben
I have a kitchen apron with big pockets. I was ready to toss it when I had an idea. I now fill the pockets with sponges and cleaning products and only wear the apron when I clean my home. Now everything is right at my fingertips. If your apron didn’t come with pockets, they are easy to add if you sew. — Joanne
Note: Every user assumes all risks of injury or damage resulting from the implementation of any suggestions in this column. Test all products on an inconspicuous area first.
Have a great suggestion or tip? Please send an email to: info@reena.ca. Reena Nerbas is a popular motivational presenter for large and small groups; check out her website: reena.ca.
Renovation & Design
Divert sump pump water to avoid a skating rink
Question: Last year I had a problem with my sump pump exterior discharge area. Since most new homes in the city are close to each other, I had my sump pump hose disconnected in the fall. Through the winter, all that water froze and created an ice rink between my house and the neighbour. In the spring when it all started melting, the pump was running continuously. So, I had to put the hose back on during the day, when it was warm, and then disconnect it during the night, when it got cold. I did this every day, for about a week, until the water on the side of my home was mostly gone, other than the thick ice that was still there. Is there any way to avoid this from happening again? Thanks, Mj Kainth
Answer: Dealing with ice and water buildup between homes in the spring and fall can be a challenge for many homeowners. Using a temporary, removable diversion measure to channel the water away from this area should minimize the problem and keep it at a manageable level.
Water discharge from a newer home sump pump can be a nuisance to deal with, especially in the shoulder seasons. This is one of the most common complaints of homeowners, even in the warm months. While it seems like an almost insurmountable challenge when the weather cools, it can often be reasonably managed with a temporary measure to divert the water away from the area between your homes.
Many homeowners, frustrated with ice buildup beside their homes, choose a method to divert the sump pump water to the municipal waste system inside the building. By closing off the discharge pipe near its exit from the sump, and diverting it into another ABS plastic pipe connected to a drain pipe in the basement, the outside ice issue will disappear. While this may be a reasonable winter measure, when done properly with two valves and proper plumbing pipes, it is not allowed in many areas. Because the sewers are not designed to carry large amounts of rainwater, especially during heavy storms, this could cause serious sewer back-up issues if left in place during the summer. If a significant number of homes have this set-up in place, and the owners forget to divert the water back outside after freezing temperatures are gone, this can be a disaster waiting to happen. For these reasons this is not something that is recommended for water and ice control.
A simpler idea is to find a method to continue to divert the sump pump water further away from the house, after the normal outside discharge pipe is removed for colder weather ice prevention. While it is critical to remove the tight-fitting, small diameter, flexible plastic hose in the fall, using another one in its place should work. Ensuring the winter pipe is large and long enough to prevent freezing is the key. An excellent choice may be a piece of non-perforated weeping tile pipe. This material is easily found at building supply retailers, or often left behind in short sections in new sub-divisions after foundations are backfilled. Because this corrugated plastic pipe is designed to be buried, it is very strong and freeze resistant. Also, the large diameter will allow a huge amount of water to flow through before it fills up. Even if some water and ice remain inside the pipe, it should have sufficient room to prevent complete blockage, unlike the smaller, thinner hose.
The key to preventing a total freeze-up of this temporary pipe is to ensure it is loosely secured to the short pipe sticking through the foundation wall of your home. Because the diameter is much larger than that of the typical fitting, discharged water would overflow from the top should it ever become completely blocked lower down. This will prevent damage to the sump pump, which is a common occurrence when people forget to remove the regular discharge hose in the fall.
A short section of the larger piping may be all that is required to prevent major ice accumulation, but that depends on your grading and neighbour’s sump discharge location. If those items are not in good shape, regrading the low areas before winter, or installing a longer temporary pipe, should be satisfactory. If your grading is good, and the swale between homes is nicely sloped to the front yard, a short piece may be enough. In fact, using a large splash block, or piece of eavestrough, on the ground below the discharge pipe can also work. If not, loosely securing the weeping tile pipe with a piece of twine, bungy cord, or zip tie, should prevent it from coming loose.
Preventing a large ice rink beside your house, during cold weather discharge from your sump pump, can seem like a difficult task, but need not be. Using a loosely attached, larger, temporary pipe for diverting the water further away may be all that is required to prevent this problem from occurring.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
