Larry:
First, I like your analogy!
Second, you were observing the condensation that occurs when air at 100%
humidity (a condensing atmosphere!) contacts a cold surface. It happens with
unpainted concrete, painted concrete, steel, automobiles, etc. It is a
little surprising that there was no condensation on the painted surface.
Perhaps it had an anti-graffiti coating. Water condenses on the exterior of
my house here in Massachusetts about twice a year. The condensation on the
concrete in Michigan is not a symptom or a cause of any particular problem
unique to that parking garage. Not that it is unlikely to disintegrate at
any particular moment...
Steve Stokowski
Stone Products Consultants
Building Products Microscopy
10 Clark St., Ste. A
Ashland, Mass. 01721-2145
508-881-6364 (ph. & fax)
http://members.aol.com/crushstone/petro.htm
In a message dated 4/6/01 3:38:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
From the basement up to the highest floor, essentially every ceiling in
the car parking areas (all unpainted concrete) were speckled densely with
little droplets of water, like the surface of a cold Coke bottle on a hot
Alabama afternoon.
Meanwhile, in the little corner section which includes the elevators and
stairway, where all the surfaces are painted, no comparable condensation
was seen.
Is this typical behavior for practically an entire unheated reinforced-
concrete building to be (literally) dripping with moisture after just a
small amount of rain? Or is this a symptom -- or cause -- of some deeper
problem?