Help--questions to ask a contractor

[Tracie Davis]

My tenant called, an outside facing wall is damp. I've googled and the best info I can find is that the water source is either from rising water, condensation, or penetration. I have a home improvement guy coming out tomorrow to take a look. What kinds of questions should I ask? What type of things should I be looking for? Any advice that will make this quicker/easier to fix? Thanks, Tracie

[Account Closed]

When you say damp - are you referring to visible condensation on the drywall surface or damp to the touch?

How high up the wall is the moisture?

Has there been a humidifier running in this room/house?

Are the gutters clean and flowing freely to the downspouts?

Pics of both sides of the wall may help evaluate.

For what it may be worth:

Rising water typically is ground water or flooding.

Condensation has to do with the difference of temperature on opposing sides of the wall along with humidity levels (layman's definition for sure...)

Penetration has to do with leaks and differences in pressure on each side of the wall (i.e., strong winds)

Multiple potential culprits.  Keep in mind, generally speaking, water seeks the path of least resistance and seldom defies gravity... more times than I can count, the source of the water problem was not where the evidence of the problem was discovered.

Good luck finding and resolving the problem.