Damp Wood Joist from Small Leak ?

Robert11 wrote:
...
> Just a relatively small leak, but did damage the ceiling below a little.
...

> I am worried that I can ever truly dry out fully the wood joists and ceiling
> plaster that got damp, so am a bit concerned; or, will it dry out in time
> with the fan going for a week or so ?
...

Unless you had enough water that it's showing up somewhere besides the
ceiling, I'd not worry about it...it'll evaporate w/ time w/ or w/o the
fan; probably at about the same rate since you can't get any significant
air movement anywhere but the localized area anyway.

Repair the access hole and go on w/ life...

--

dpb wrote:
> Robert11 wrote:
> ...
>> Just a relatively small leak, but did damage the ceiling below a little.
> ...
>
>> I am worried that I can ever truly dry out fully the wood joists and
>> ceiling plaster that got damp, so am a bit concerned; or, will it dry
>> out in time with the fan going for a week or so ?
> ...
>
> Unless you had enough water that it's showing up somewhere besides the
> ceiling, I'd not worry about it...it'll evaporate w/ time w/ or w/o the
> fan; probably at about the same rate since you can't get any significant
> air movement anywhere but the localized area anyway.
>
> Repair the access hole and go on w/ life...

That's assuming, of course, you have collected whatever standing water
on the ceiling was there (or it dripped down via a light fixture or some
other escape route already)...

--

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:39:41 -0400, "Robert11" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Hello,
>
>Found a leak in a water pipe from our upstairs bathroom.
>Leaking down to ceiling below.
>
>Just a relatively small leak, but did damage the ceiling below a little.
>
>Questions:
>
>The defective pipe that was repaired was about waist high in the upstairs
>wall.
>Small section cut out to repair and re-solder, but impossible to see below
>to the the joists
>etc. on the bathroom floor.
>
>Have a fan blowing on it thru the cutout repair hole for a few days to dry
>out hopefully any dampness.
>
>Was wondering though:
>
>a. how many days should I keep the fan going ?
>
>b. Is there some powder, or something, to blow into the hole which
>hopefully would get down to the joists to help prevent any mold, etc. from
>forming before buttoning the cutout up ? Or best to just let "air-dry" ?
>
>I am worried that I can ever truly dry out fully the wood joists and ceiling
>plaster that got damp, so am a bit concerned; or, will it dry out in time
>with the fan going for a week or so ?

I've had bathtub overflows; and aquarium tubing plant waterer which
took about 15 minutes to do all the plants, that I forgot to turn off
when I left the house for hours; and one other big leak, mostly 10 to
15 years ago, and I'm certain they all dried out sometime between then
and now, probably within 3 years.

Afaik, I got no mold anywhere except I did get some mold on the
basement ceiling, but that's also how I know it dried out, because
that's what made the mold stop growing. It was still black there and
had to be repainted, but I didnt' get around to that for a couple
years so I know it wasn't growing anymore.

Oh, yeah, for a while I had bad drainage by one downspout and that
kept a piece of sheetrock in a corner next to the basement fireplace
wet. It got moldy too, but when I fixed the bad drainage, again the
mold stopped growing. On that one I used bleach and was confused that
the blackness was still there. I am so dumb I thought the bleach
would not just kill the mold but would bleach it too. With the
ceiling in the previous paragraph, I didnt' use any bleach and the
mold still died.

About the fan, my first reaction was that it might help when it was
really wet down there, just guessing, 2 or 3 days, but if the 2x4s
were wet enough that it soaked in, it's going to take a long time for
them to dry out totally, and I don't know that the fan will really
make much of a breeze down there, since it's a dead-end hole, and I
was thinking maybe turn off the fan and just let the small amount of
water vapor in the hole disperse naturally.

Then it occurred to me that maybe you're even increasing the chance of
getting mold spores in there the longer you do this.

Mold spores aren't everywhere and I think maybe the mold issue is like
the murder and rape issues, that they are really not that common but
we hear so much about the ones that happen that at least one survey
has shown people think there is a lot more murder than there really
is. This is little comfort for the person who gets mold.

I'm no expert but I guess I would turn off the fan, and at most hang a
piece of cloth sufficiently tightly woven to keep out the spores, but
which would allow the water vapor to exit through it.

But don't forget, there is humidity in the air in the rest of your
house and there was humidity the day they built your house in the
first place. So it's pretty clear that it doesn't have to be zero
humidity for no mold to grow. I doubt you'll get any mold.

>Thanks,
>B.
>

On Jul 14, 11:00 am, mm <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:39:41 -0400, "Robert11" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >Hello,
>
> >Found a leak in a water pipe from our upstairs bathroom.
> >Leaking down to ceiling below.
>
> >Just a relatively small leak, but did damage the ceiling below a little.
>
> >Questions:
>
> >The defective pipe that was repaired was about waist high in the upstairs
> >wall.
> >Small section cut out to repair and re-solder, but impossible to see below
> >to the the joists
> >etc. on the bathroom floor.
>
> >Have a fan blowing on it thru the cutout repair hole for a few days to dry
> >out hopefully any dampness.
>
> >Was wondering though:
>
> >a.  how many days should I keep the fan going ?
>
> >b.  Is there some powder, or something, to blow into the hole which
> >hopefully would get down to the joists to help prevent any mold, etc. from
> >forming before buttoning the cutout up ?  Or best to just let "air-dry" ?
>
> >I am worried that I can ever truly dry out fully the wood joists and ceiling
> >plaster that got damp, so am a bit concerned; or, will it dry out in time
> >with the fan going for a week or so ?
>
> I've had bathtub overflows; and aquarium tubing plant waterer which
> took about 15 minutes to do all the plants, that I forgot to turn off
> when I left the house for hours; and one other big leak, mostly 10 to
> 15 years ago, and I'm certain they all dried out sometime between then
> and now, probably within 3 years.
>
> Afaik, I got no mold anywhere except I did get some mold on the
> basement ceiling, but that's also how I know it dried out, because
> that's what made the mold stop growing. It was still black there and
> had to be repainted, but I didnt' get around to that for a couple
> years so I know it wasn't growing anymore.
>
> Oh, yeah, for a while I had bad drainage by one downspout and that
> kept a piece of sheetrock in a corner next to the basement fireplace
> wet.  It got moldy too, but when I fixed the bad drainage, again the
> mold stopped growing.  On that one I used bleach and was confused that
> the blackness was still there.  I am so dumb I thought the bleach
> would not just kill the mold but would bleach it too.   With the
> ceiling in the previous paragraph, I didnt' use any bleach and the
> mold still died.
>
> About the fan, my first reaction was that it might help when it was
> really wet down there, just guessing, 2 or 3 days, but if the 2x4s
> were wet enough that it soaked in, it's going to take a long time for
> them to dry out totally, and I don't know that the fan will really
> make much of a breeze down there, since it's a dead-end hole, and I
> was thinking maybe turn off the fan and just let the small amount of
> water vapor in the hole disperse naturally.
>
> Then it occurred to me that maybe you're even increasing the chance of
> getting mold spores in there the longer you do this.
>
> Mold spores aren't everywhere and I think maybe the mold issue is like
> the murder and rape issues, that they are really not that common but
> we hear so much about the ones that happen that at least one survey
> has shown people think there is a lot more murder than there really
> is.    This is little comfort for the person who gets mold.
>
> I'm no expert but I guess I would turn off the fan, and at most hang a
> piece of cloth sufficiently tightly woven to keep out the spores, but
> which would allow the water vapor to exit through it.
>
> But don't forget, there is humidity in the air in the rest of your
> house and there was humidity the day they built your house in the
> first place.  So it's pretty clear that it doesn't have to be zero
> humidity for no mold to grow.   I doubt you'll get any mold.
>
>
>
> >Thanks,
> >B.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

If you can get at the wood about which you are concerned, you can
reduce the likelihood of dry rot by spraying good with boric acid. If
not, you have to weigh the chances with the cost and effort of
prevention.

Cheers,