Moisture in the walls...

[Stormcrow]

I'm condo board president at a 20-unit building, and we've got an issue with moisture in the walls in one of our halls (a common area). There's been some roof issues that have (we think) ultimately been patched; there never was literal leaking per se, but moisture was getting into the walls and getting them saturated. The paint would peel, and just generally get all nasty. Like I said, I believe we've got the overt water issues fixed, but there is still some moisture in the walls (one of my board members is a contractor and has a moisture detector that is still basically giving us a 15% moisture level). It's unclear if the moisture is from seepage from somewhere or residual from the previous issues.

I want to get that wall repaired, but if the moisture is still present, the paint peeling, etc will no doubt recur. We've thought of putting a dehumidifier up there to suck the moisture out before fixing the wall.

I'm hoping someone here my have an idea of tactics we can try, or any standard sorts of practices we should have the contractors who bid on this work undertake to ensure that the wall is in the best shape we can get it in.

Any thoughts?

[Enkel]

As to moisture levels:

Wood products used outside but protected from direct precipitation will stabilize with the surrounding environment at about 12% MC in the humid southern states, but may stabilize to as low as 6% MC in the arid Southwest. Hardwood furniture, all paneling, and other products used in heated buildings are estimated to stabilize at about 8% MC. Wood products to be used inside buildings that are only occasionally heated should be dried to about 18% MC.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for55/for55.htm

I'd run the De-humidifier that you talked about. If you have the money, run it while the heat is turned up pretty high in the building.

If the roof and walls are sealed, and it isn't under ground and doesn't have pipes that can be leaking or condensing... I'm not sure what more you can do about the moisture. But, I'd also treat for molds, etc.

[Stormcrow]

Thanks, Enkel - that's really useful information!