LIVERMORE — A dehumidifier and some air conditioners are being used at the Town Office to decrease moisture in the building, as recommended by a Turner company.
Ron Tillson, environmental safety and health manager at Acadia Contractors LLC, investigated a complaint Aug. 4 of a musty odor in the building. Among the conditions he found was that the relative humidity in the building was between 50 to 60 percent, and the air temperature varied between 72 and 75 degrees.
Moisture content on the cement slab was between 50 and 80 percent. He also found that the vent from the bathroom dumps into the attic space. He noted there were no rain gutters on the back side of the building and the rain gutters on the front side dump right next to the front corner of the building slab.
He also said the carpeting in the front office space is damp.
Moisture appears to be wicking up through the slab, he said.
He recommended using a dehumidifier to alleviate moisture and air conditioners to reduce the temperature during the summer.
The vent in the bathroom needs to be vented to the outside, which will help reduce moisture, Tillson said.
He also recommended rain gutters be installed on the rear of the building and drained away from the cement slab.
Extenders were placed on the gutter system on the front of the building to drain into the driveway as recommended, town Administrative Assistant Carrie Castonguay said.
Putting gutters on the rear of the building has not been addressed.
Tillson recommended that the damp carpeting in the front office area be replaced with vinyl composition tile.
“We are still trying to figure out what to do about the carpeting,” Castonguay said. “There have been a lot of rainy, damp days this summer, and we’re wondering if this is an isolated occurrence,” she said.
All of the recommendations listed should reduce overall moisture in the building, Tillson wrote.
“Most likely, heavy moisture loading is a seasonal event, more likely to occur between spring and fall seasons,” Tillson said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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