There have been many engineering studies on our pool building over the years. The first was in 1993 when there were severe issues soon after construction. The recommendation at that time, from the architect and engineers, was to remove the skylights. We did not do it then and we have no intention of doing it now.
However, as
discussed in Chapter 4, we have come to realize that, as long as we have
skylights, we risk encountering condensation – particularly in cold weather. So
how do we intend to deal with it?
Until this
renovation, the solution was to apply a PVC barrier between the skylights and
the pool air. While this can help, there are multiple issues long term with
this approach. Also, it masks the skylights from view from the inside so there
is an esthetic price to pay.
Our current preference instead is to accept the reality that condensation is going to be unavoidable on certain days. Now that the fans appear to be adjusted properly and condensation is considerably reduced, our “thinking outside the box” strategy is to install gutters around the rectangular bottom frame of the skylights to trap any water before it can damage our walls on days when our ventilation system and the fans can’t keep up.
We believe
this is the most prudent way to deal with a 25 year old problem and will allow
us time to determine how to eliminate condensation completely. This has been
thoroughly discussed with our contractors who agree it is a viable strategy.
However, exact details of the design can only be determined when the pool is
closed and empty.
It will involve some extra cost but is not expected to put us over budget for the project.
No comments:
Post a Comment