Not sure how best to approach this. We just bought a house, the sellers installed tile throughout the home during their time living there, the most recent of which was done at the beginning of 2020. My feeling is that it was done at different times--they didn't redo all the floors at once. Efflorescence deposits keep appearing in the grout of the tile in the section that was redone about 2 years ago. It's a large area, about 1/3 of the house.
We've had 2 plumbers, a leak detection company, and two water remediation companies out (they checked for moisture, nothing in the walls or baseboards) -- no one has any clue. It appears not to be a leak. We are definitely seeing more deposits appear, so it seems like the problem isn't contained or staying the same, rather growing. Sellers knew about the issue because we found caulking on the tile where water is weeping at certain places. Unfortunately our inspector did not catch this, and to be honest, it was hard to see until we had moved in. (They also did a great job scrubbing all the efflorescence from the floors while it was under contract.)
Should I be ripping out all my floors to check what's going on underneath? It hasn't even rained in weeks here, sprinklers have been off, I have no idea where the moisture is even coming from at this point. Please any advice here is helpful! Who can I call to help me with this?
If it matters at all, I'm 99% sure the seller did all the floors himself. Could it be an installation problem?
New homeowner and our house floor is all tile. We are noticing white deposits along the grout lines in some of the rooms, all in one section of the house (bathroom, primary bedroom, and a second living room area). Some of those spots when the efflorescence is cleaned, seems to weep tiny droplets of water. The efflorescence is not wide spread in the rooms (at least not yet), it shows up in random spots quite far apart. However the range of where we see it is pretty wide (across three rooms).
We've had a plumber out and they cannot locate a leak. We have another plumber coming next week to confirm.
What else could be causing the moisture to come through? Is it possible the tile was put in incorrectly? The sellers put the tile down at the beginning of 2020. Another interesting thing to note, is that the same tile is used in other rooms in the home, however we are not seeing any signs of moisture come through there.
I have found lots of articles explaining what efflorescence is, however, no one seems to follow up with what they did to make it go away effectively. Is this a major repair? Or should I just keep an eye on it? Anyone in r/Tile have some advice for me?
Moved into a 1900s home and have been getting painfully familiar with plaster.
The biggest problem is a section of plaster over brick chimney where it meets the roof. About 2 feet wide and goes from ceiling edge to about 3 feet down it. It was fine when we moved in, but around the chimney was leaking after a heavy snow so I had that fixed about a year ago and have seen no more moisture since then.
The paint bubbled and peeled from efflorescence, so I scraped off all the paint and removed the salts. I waited 6 months with it like that to give it plenty of time to dry, then cleaned again and applied killz oil primer. But the efflorescence keeps coming and peeling the paint even with no new moisture as far as I can tell. Iβve again had it bare for a few months but the salts continue to slowly show up.
Itβs a flat roof with only about a foot of recently insulated attic space, so I canβt access or see the space between the ceiling and roof.
Any ideas how to fix this or even just cover it?
I have a 80 year old house, it has an unfinished basement that we use for some storage and a workshop. We donβt get any water in the basement , but we do get efflorescence, and a noticeable amount. Should I be worried ? Or is it something to be expected on an older house like this.
Any advice on whatβs causing this?
https://imgur.com/a/daubzrw
Late last year, I had a leak and had to replace my laminate flooring in my house. I decided on replacing it with vinyl plank. I did the demo and had a flooring company install the new plank. My laminate floors had a moisture barrier under them. The flooring company did not install one prior to laying my new flooring (that may be standard, I don't know) but they said they don't typically install one for vinyl plank.
The following summer, I started seeing efflorescence seep through cracks of my new flooring. Definitely didn't ever experience this with the laminate but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on my slab when I was pulling up the previous moisture barrier, either.
I went by the flooring company and they told me code shortly after my house was built requires a moisture barrier around the outside of cement slabs. They said they'd send some guys out to look around my house and such but that was months ago and they've been pretty much giving me the run around, not returning calls, etc. (I haven't been super diligent, though).
So is the flooring company at fault in any way here by not putting down a moisture barrier? If not, does anyone have any insight on who I should be contacting about the issue? Can a moisture barrier be put on the outside of a slab without costing an arm and a leg? I'm also guessing I'm going to need some gutters installed on my house to help mitigate moisture away from the house but not certain. Just not sure if it's a coincidence this problem is rearing its head now or simply because of the lack of moisture barrier under my flooring.
Hey all
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4TnjndpVhNKKZfix8
Trying to solve two problems:
-
Paint is chipping above several different air vents in our house. Research suggests moisture, but I'm not seeing any evidence of mold or discoloration other than this weird build-up under one window. Can moisture cause chipping without creating mold?
-
What even is this build-up? It looks crystalized, and has a somewhat salt-like texture, so I don't think it's mold, but it doesn't match what I can find about efflorescence either. What else could it be?
Bonus question: What sort of business / expert would I have to call to figure out what's going on with the chipping paint? A painter? General Contractor? Moisture specialist?
Thank you!
Basement wall has some efflorescence. I would like to repaint it. Should I remove it first or just paint over?
https://imgur.com/gallery/7xQd8hl
Should also say that weβve done a bit to mitigate moisture - dehumidifier in the basement and some exterior mitigation as well, so Iβm somewhat hopeful it wonβt come back.
I have an older home built around 1930s or 40s, no insulation original stucco inside and out. When I was a teenager we painted my bedroom walls dark when they had previously been white and shortly after noticed this white residue. We thought at first it was mold, but discovered later itβs likely efflorescence (salt/mineral deposits coming through the stucco walls with moisture). We believe itβs always happened we just never noticed since the walls were white. Iβve inherited my house now and want to do some improvements, but Iβm not sure how to handle this.
After reading about it, it seems that blocking the transition of moisture through the walls with a heavy primer or something could trap moisture inside the walls and cause mold. But I would like to be able to use darker paint in the house without this issue and not paint everything white. Does anyone have experience with this? I canβt find a single article online talking about efflorescence on walls inside your house - only on exterior brick or stucco.
It occurs on every wall of my bedroom - including the molding around the walls, windows and doors. It does not occur on the doors themselves. It occurs on both exterior and interior facing walls. Iβve cleaned it off many times with a cloth and water or wall cleaner and it easily wipes away, but always comes back within a few weeks. It occurs most badly on the exterior facing walls, and the wall that is shared with my bathroom. It also occurs heavily in my dark navy painted attic. Though doesnβt happen oddly on the dark accent wall painted in the bedroom next to mine (exterior facing wall).
It also interestingly doesnβt seem to happen under the areas where I used to have posters on my wall. Iβm guessing the paper absorbed the moisture and salt deposits instead of the wall?
Iβm really at a loss for how to prime/treat/prevent this without potentially causing issues within the walls, and canβt seem to find any information online. Is this even efflorescence? What else could it be? Please help!
Photos in comments.
What is the best way to even out these areas where efflorescence has caused the previous drylok to chip? Iβve cleaned those areas with muriatic acid, but want to even out before reapplying drylok.
Grading has been been done. Thereβs never been any water penetration, so just looking for advice on the wall repair.
https://imgur.com/a/ZkZYeNn
Any help would be appreciated.
The concrete flooring in our garage seems to be experiencing some type of corrosion where we see white powdery substance (efflorescence?). When we wipe away the white powder, small portions of the concrete (sand-like in size) is coming apart with it. This only occurs in 1/3 of the garage and all the concrete around the house (outside of the garage) seem fine. We don't see or smell any moisture in the garage.
Is this a normal problem where a simple surface repair would suffice or is this usually a sign of a larger problem (water leakage in the foundation, etc)? The "Image & Video" option is greyed out so I linked photos below....
Just found this in my garage today. Thought it might be some sort of mold but upon researching it looks like efflorescence, a sort of salt build up. This is in my garage on one side. On the other side of the wall is decorative landscaping walk and a sidewalk up to the front door. As far as I know there is no plumbing that goes through that wall as itβs only in the garage and then an exterior wall. I am not aware of any water leaks but we have had a lot of rain this monsoon season with higher humidity.
Is this really serious?
Anyone know what type of person to call out for this? Foundation repair? Contractor?imgur
Hello, first time home buyer and looking to purchase. Have Googled several posts in this and other subreddits but the patterns look a little different compared to this (read one on mortar).
The home I am looking most at has a waterfalling/vertical cascading pattern of chalky powder on the basement wall which appears to be efflorescence. (Imgur link provided). I like almost everything else about the house, but have concerns about moisture going in chronically and degrading the foundation. There is a vertical crack nearby. The house's lawn slopes downward to the deck. Is this going to be a large project waterproofing the home's foundation or am I over thinking this? Most of the basement is finished, so unable to see large portions of foundation.
https://imgur.com/a/oPCtQmy Pictures for reference, thanks for taking a look.
