Episode 94 of the Ask Derek Cole Show (podcast Q&A) where Derek Cole and guest William Skipper answer homeowner questions about standing water in yards/crawlspaces and whether an HVAC system can be tapped for a new home addition. Key points: standing water likely affects crawlspaces causing humidity, biological growth, rot, and potential duct contamination; homeowners insurance typically won’t cover slow groundwater/moisture problems; tapping an existing HVAC system for substantial additions is generally not recommended because of sizing, comfort, and whole-house impacts.
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On this episode we talk about water standing at my house and can I tap onto my existing system when I build a new addition? You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, it's Derek Cole. Welcome to episode 94. Yeah, 94. Of the Ask Derrick Cole show. Answering her home and energy questions. And as you notice, I have somebody with me today that's William Skipper. Yeah, just making sure. So it's kind of a nasty week, right? I mean, all this rain, everything.
I wasn't expecting that.
Kind of a nasty week.
I wasn't expecting that.
And for once you haven't been here and haven't seen this but been kind of salty in the last few shows. So I feel pretty good today. Not sure I'm gonna feel when you start talking, but right now I feel good. So I'll keep it though. Alright, let's get into the questions. Wait a minute. Yeah, I'm ready.
Water standing in my yard. Is it under my house too?
Water is standing in the yard. Is it under my house? What do you think?
I would just about bet that it was the case as.
So is it going to be a problem?
Most definitely. Crawl spaces and moisture do not mix. You're going to have humidity problems in the house. You can have growth, biological growth of some sort and rot as well, which are not good for your home.
Yeah. And the bad news is that the homeowners policies are not going to cover this because it's not something like a pipe burst and they happen all of a sudden. It's going to be a slow process if you don't get the water out.
Most points.
That's right. Yeah. So if the water is staying in your yard, it's probably under your house, which is a problem because water and wood don't really mix too well together. So you're going to have a challenge there. So what I would do is once it dries up a bit is crawl into the house, see how damp it is. See if you need to pay attention to what's happening there. Because you're breathing that air in the house, right?
Yeah. 80% of the air you breathe in your home originates in the crawl space. Air travels in the home as a stack effect, chimney effect. So it's continually rising through the house. So it's going to start here and you're going to breathe that nasty air in the home.
Yeah. I actually had a homeowner challenge me on that point that the air comes from down to up. He's like, I don't believe you. I'm like, well, think about people smoking a cigarette. When you light a cigarette, where does the smoke go? It goes up. Air is not different than that. So all kind of things could happen. If you have standing water in your house, that's something you want to pay attention to and get it fixed right away. And really, if you go in your house at all and it's damp and sticks to your hand, you have a moisture problem.
And we are in the air conditioning business. And what we see most of the time is very seldom do you have a duct system that is airtight. If it's not airtight, we've got damp, musty air under the house and biological growth. Where is it going to eventually get in the duct system and where is that going to carry it into your home?
Yeah, so it could be a problem. You're breathing the air. It can also penetrate into the duct system. Things are happening because now reducing cold air and condensation to that moist, damp environment and it's going to be a problem for you. So I would check it out and see what's going on.
I'm building an addition to the side of my home. Can I just tap into my existing system?
When you add to your home, I won't say it depends because it's not 100% necessary. You need another system or you need something add on. If you're building a little bed, I mean a little closet room on the north side of the house, you might be able to tap into it. But most cases people are building sunrooms or leaving areas adding to the house. Right. So now you have three exposed walls to the outside that you didn't have before. Where there was one wall, now you have three. So you want to have to attack it with something greater than the system you have in your home.
That's right. What you see most time is an addition is a substantial addition. Most of the, in most cases you're either going to add, like Derek said, a master suite. We see a lot of master suites added on homes where you add a master bedroom, another bath, a walk in closet. That's pretty substantial square footage. If your unit in your home was put in with any sort of quality or concern for sizing, you don't have enough capacity to add tap on and go to that room. But like Darius says, it's not 100%. There are cases that somebody put a five ton unit in a house it might not need, but three ton is oversized and it might be to your benefit to tap onto it and Go for energy and, you know, unit purposes. But most of the time, not.
Yeah, most of them not. And we've been in that house. We've all been the house where they've had the sunroom. And, yeah, I just want to tap in a few little runs to my duct system. Throw it over here.
Miserable.
No, not gonna happen. Not gonna be comfortable. Because now you're building three walls of glass. And this lady in particular was. It was on the southwest side of her house, and she was like, I'm using my unit. I said, where's your thermostat at? She pointed to the middle of the house where it's supposed to be. There is no way that thermostat can read what's happening in that sunroom.
And what you need to be aware of. Most people say, well, if it doesn't work, this addition, I'm fine with it. If I'm not comfortable, you're not just gonna be not comfortable in that room. It's gonna affect the whole house. Because when you take that air off of that duct system to go into that room, you're taking it from somewhere that needs it in the rest of the house. So you're not just gonna be affected in that new area. You're gonna start surfering in your old part.
Yeah, it's gonna. I mean, it fixed the whole envelope. What we call the house is the envelope. So it. I mean, there's a cause and effect. It's like taking medication. I mean, yeah, you. You're curing one thing, or you're masking over symptoms. But you could have higher blood pressure, or it could lead to liver problems. You know, there's always a cause and effect. So when you start tapping into existing things and not sizing it properly, you're going to have challenges.
Problems, not challenges. Problem.
Yeah, you're not gonna be comfortable. I mean, you're spending that money to add the house, add the room on, and you've turned a comfortable home into. Until the whole house is now uncomfortable.
Exactly.
Yeah. All right, that's episode 94, the Ask Derrick Cole Show. But William Skipper was here, so we asked him, too. But all your questions, please hashtag them Askderic Cole, and we'll get them on the show. You ask your comfort and energy questions, and they get answered. This is the Ask Derek Cole Show.
