Steel decking sweating

[timswi]

Thanks Steve...That's the route that I'm going to go...I like the bevel idea..i'll do that.

Table saw...Not me....I can count in fractions on one hand thanks to one of those That's a horse I'm not getting back on

 

[Steve C]

Thanks Steve...That's the route that I'm going to go...I like the bevel idea..i'll do that.

Table saw...Not me....I can count in fractions on one hand thanks to one of those That's a horse I'm not getting back on

Yikes I don't blame you!

If you want to treat yourself to the best utility knife ever made, get a Stanley fat max extreme model 10-815. It is almost twice as long as a standard knife making it easy to reach accross 4 foot panels. It also lets you put extreme pressure on materials due to the large handle. You can cut 1/2" drywall completely in half with this knife. No score and snap, just cut.

 

[timswi]

Yikes I don't blame you!

If you want to treat yourself to the best utility knife ever made, get a Stanley fat max extreme model 10-815. It is almost twice as long as a standard knife making it easy to reach accross 4 foot panels. It also lets you put extreme pressure on materials due to the large handle. You can cut 1/2" drywall completely in half with this knife. No score and snap, just cut.

I'll do just that...thanks

 

[om21braz]

Please keep us/me up to date on how well this works out as I need to do something similiar myself.

 

[timswi]

Please keep us/me up to date on how well this works out as I need to do something similiar myself.

I'm going to do this next week...Will let you know how it works out.

 

[Steve C]

I'm going to do this next week...Will let you know how it works out.

If you want to use this project as an excuse to get a very useful labor saving tool, buy yourself a powered caulking gun. I have a Craftsman that uses the C3 batteries. I have a lot of other tools that use that same battery so it makes sense to buy the Craftsman. Ryobi has an almost identical cordless gun.

I laminated 14 foot long sheets of drywall to an existing plaster ceiling using screws and glue. The cordless caulking gun made the job a lot easier. I also replaced all the windows in my house and had to seal around the new ones. The variable speed adjustment on the gun and the constant steady discharge pressure makes it very easy to maintain perfect material application without the normal pressure surges and jerking around you get when you "pump" a manual caulking gun.

I also used it to glue the foam insulation to the walls of my pump room in the basement.

 

[timswi]

If you want to use this project as an excuse to get a very useful labor saving tool, buy yourself a powered caulking gun. I have a Craftsman that uses the C3 batteries. I have a lot of other tools that use that same battery so it makes sense to buy the Craftsman. Ryobi has an almost identical cordless gun.

I laminated 14 foot long sheets of drywall to an existing plaster ceiling using screws and glue. The cordless caulking gun made the job a lot easier. I also replaced all the windows in my house and had to seal around the new ones. The variable speed adjustment on the gun and the constant steady discharge pressure makes it very easy to maintain perfect material application without the normal pressure surges and jerking around you get when you "pump" a manual caulking gun.

I also used it to glue the foam insulation to the walls of my pump room in the basement.

Outstanding idea....

 

[timswi]

Ok this might be part duh.

While heating up the storage area and drying the ceiling, I noticed a pattern.

The outside wall seemed to be generating the moisture on the upper part of the of the steel . Given that this is commercial grade decking, there is a 2" up/down variance in the corrugation.

What I didn't think about, until now, is that the inside part of the steel is dry, the outside part is damp...it appears that the air movement up the 8' outside block wall is creating the moisture. Given that I did this myself, I should have known

My theory is that the ground temp at the footers is vastly different than the temp coming up the hollow block out of the ground, along with whatever moisture is down there by default.

I'm trying a little experiment over the weekend to see if foaming the currugation will seal off the air movement. Only did 4' or so, but we'll see.

Theories?

 

[Steve C]

Ok this might be part duh.

While heating up the storage area and drying the ceiling, I noticed a pattern.

The outside wall seemed to be generating the moisture on the upper part of the of the steel . Given that this is commercial grade decking, there is a 2" up/down variance in the corrugation.

What I didn't think about, until now, is that the inside part of the steel is dry, the outside part is damp...it appears that the air movement up the 8' outside block wall is creating the moisture. Given that I did this myself, I should have known

My theory is that the ground temp at the footers is vastly different than the temp coming up the hollow block out of the ground, along with whatever moisture is down there by default.

I'm trying a little experiment over the weekend to see if foaming the currugation will seal off the air movement. Only did 4' or so, but we'll see.

Theories?

Yes that should work.

The steel decking is sitting on top of the block so there is a 2 inch gap at the upper corrugation.

I assume that the cores are open in the blocks. The stack effect of the cold air falling down the block core displacing the warmer less dense air causing it to rise and bring its moisture with it is certainly a likely source of almost never ending moisture that will condense onto the first object it strikes that it's below it dew point.

Concrete block offers little resistance to water vapor unless it is waterproffed. If it is water proofed on the outside it will greatly minimize the amount of moisture that is flowing through the concrete block. If it isn't waterproofed the moisture will be endless.

The steel near the wall will be much weter than the steel near the basement, because as the air flows across the surface as it comes out of the block cores the moisture is stripped out of it by the first cold surface it touches.

 

[timswi]

Steve,

So far today, that seems to be the case..I'm going to foam all of the corrugation, and foam board the ceiling..Hoping that will be the end of this...thanks.