I live in central Florida. We are closing in a porch that has metal pan decking for the roof. I notice this time of year especially it frosts and then drips all over everything. We don't have it completely closed in yet. Plenty of air getting in. Screen still in small portion of it. How do we stop this kind of sweating and dripping? Can we put something up against the under side of pan decking to insulate this? Once it is airtight will this stop? What do we need to do?
Shelia
Guest User
2005-01-18 13:00:19.000000
Warm moist air, when in contact with a cool surface, will condense, no matter what the material is. On very porous materials, some of this condensation will soak in or occur within the material rather than all be on the surface, leading to drips. Of course, that isn't real good either because it can lead to mold, etc. Non-porous materials like metal and glass will keep the condensation or frost on the surface.
The only wya to stop it is to either eliminate the warm moist air or keep it from coming in contact with the cooler material. I do not know if your construction will allow this but a drop ceiling with an air barrier (such as plastic sheeting) behind it and then a vented airspace beneath the metal panels should help.
