What Causes Condensation on Laminate Surfaces?

Sweating in the laminate floors is a very common problem found in households throughout the country, even those in less humid areas! Sweating flooring not only weakens the foundation of your building but also makes the surface slippery and can cause severe accidents and damage. It is essential to identify the cause of your laminate floor sweating and fix any issues that may be there. If you have been struggling to determine the underlying cause of laminate flooring issues like condensation, don’t hesitate to contact a professional restoration service for help. 

Why Does Flooring Sweat?

In most cases, condensation is the leading cause of laminate flooring that continuously feels wet and slick. This is even more true for climates that enjoy warmer, moister year round weather. When the warm and humid air comes in contact with the building's concrete, it cools down quickly and condenses on the surface, leading to sweating. Sometimes, there could be a leak around the house, and when you don't fix a leak, it can lead to further condensation.

If you ignore this issue and don't fix it in time, the concrete slab will become dark and will lead to efflorescence in the future. As a result, your floor will develop white patches. These patches are caused due to the water being absorbed by the concrete coming back to the surface and evaporation, leaving behind mineral deposits. 

Though condensation is the most common cause of sweating, other things can lead to the same problem as well. Lack of moisture barrier under the slabs can affect the movement of moisture from below to the surface. If the moisture cannot move freely, it will also lead to sweating on the laminate floors.

Identifying The Problem

One of the best ways to identify sweating on your laminate floors is by elimination. Given below are some of the steps to follow to determine the exact cause of the sweating:

• Seal all the openings in your building to stop humid air from getting inside
• Reduce humidity in the air
• Change the surface of your flooring
• Increase the overall temperature in your room
• Improve air circulation across the entire floor
• Checking if there are any kinds of leaks in the property

How To Prevent Sweating in the Laminate Floor

There are multiple ways to prevent the flooring of your property from sweating. Some of them are:

• Sealing all openings and fixing leaks in the property will reduce the drafts that cause the condensation. 
• You can also opt for a dehumidifier service that will reduce the humidity in your property. 
• Using vinyl mats, interlocking floor tiles, and specialized carpets can also help to reduce the moisture in the floors
• Improving the aeration of the floors with fans will also help in reducing the condensation in the flooring.
• Heating the affected rooms and maintaining the floor temperature at room temperature so that the humid air doesn't cool down.

Preventing Flooring Concerns

Although the above tips will effectively reduce the humidity of the flooring and cut down on sweating of laminate and other surfaces, it may be worth changing out the flooring material for a more long-term solution. A restoration contractor like Water Mold Fire Restoration has years of experience helping homeowners to prevent mold growth or repair the damage caused by water damage and mold growth and can easily provide you with additional tips on mold remediation while helping you to ensure that your home is not a prime target for mold. Call us today to learn more about our restoration and remediation services!