Dampness

El Debo
by El Debo
Hi. What can I do to prevent dampness and mold (walls and floors) with the downstairs living area? There is a deck built on the upstairs living area on the one corner of the house. Both my entrance doors are under this area and this is exactly where there is always dampness and mold. When it rains (which is almost every day) the water drips through the upstairs deck onto this area. The sun doesn't get to dry out this area under the deck and it causes the dampness to penetrate the walls as well which makes the inside of the rooms very cold and moldy. I am always sick with respiratory problems. Does anyone know of something I can attach to the underside of the deck to channel the water away?

  9 answers
    • See 6 previous
    • B. Enne B. Enne on Oct 12, 2017

      Sorry, I have no idea. I was just repeating what my friend told me. Is that the kind for showers or for roofs? She told me it was a roof membrane. I have a black flat roof membrane on part of my house. The roofers had to put it on with a torch to "fuse" it.

  • Dehumidifiers and fans (and windows too, if possible), for better ventilation and air circulation.

    • See 1 previous
    • Ok, sounds like you have it covered. Hopefully one of the other links will hold the magic wand for you. The respiratory problems concern me. Hope you can find a fix soon.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Oct 09, 2017

    Buy cheap damp collectors. full of silica gel, that collect water in the air.

    • El Debo El Debo on Oct 09, 2017

      Thank you Johna. I would have to have huge bags full in the house and there is no space.

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on Oct 09, 2017

    I would go with the dehumidifiers and fans and perhaps a good machine that cleans the air through the filters (for the life of me I can't remember what they are called). These would help the most. Put the damp rid type things in the closets if things are smelly in there. You may want to have someone check out your walls for black mold if that much moisture comes through the walls. That is probably where all the respiratory problems are coming from.

  • Patricia Patricia on Oct 09, 2017

    you need to run a dehumidifier to keep the moisture out


  • Robyn Garner Robyn Garner on Oct 09, 2017

    Sorry to have to tell you this but for your health and the safety of your home you really need to repair the root cause of the moisture issue! The kind of wetness will cause extreme damage to the home and possibly the family's health!


    Dry rot can cause structural failure.

  • Penny Taylor Penny Taylor on Oct 09, 2017

    Could you have an eaves trough put under the porch where it is dripping. The answer is right, you need to eliminate the water problem now. But the eaves trough might help for now.

  • El Debo El Debo on Oct 09, 2017

    Thanks Robyn for your feedback. Unfortunately I cannot fix the structural problem as I am a renter. The owners pretend to not understand English so I thought I would try and come up with another solution other than cause bad feelings (and possibly without accommodation) by getting the counsel to come and test for dampness. I thought of maybe sew a canvas awning and attach it underneath the deck with a slant so the water runs to the garden rather than onto the building and floor. What do you think? Have anyone another suggestion?

  • El Debo El Debo on Oct 10, 2017

    I agree Robyn. I am looking for a solution to this problem but thankfully we are going into Summer and then everything dries out. It would be a good time to then work on it.

    Cheers