Water in Heating Ducts

[Bev Denney]

My home is on a concrete slab and the heating/cooling ducts are in the slab. Whenever there’s a long, hard rain or a thawing of a lot of snow, I get water in my ducts. Before I bought the house (6 years ago), a contractor installed drainage pipe around the perimeter of the house about 6′ away, leading away to the front yard near the street. I have also installed raised garden beds, a patio slanted away from the house (of which these 2 things did help somewhat), but when the weather is severe I still get the water. I’ve even had to remove the water from the ducts by dipping it out with a cup into a bucket because the water was too high for the furnace to do it’s work. I don’t know what to do. I’d greatly appreciate any helpful suggestions.

[sheer]

my guess is you have metal ducts that have rusted in places…have your ducts checked by a heat a heat and air company.if they need to be replaced your talking about busting out the concrete.will be cheaper to run new ones overhead if there is room.They use plastic ducts now so you should not have the problem again.Anyway your talking about some major exspense here.

[David]

Bev, I ran into this problem once on a commercial job; not with standing water, although it obviously had been at some time in the past. The HVAC contractor was able to retrofit the existing ducts by “sleeving” them. I’m afraid I don’t remember the details of what they used, but perhaps someone else here will be familiar with this method and the product.

[grasshopper]

Little Giant makes mini sump pumps that may install in the duct and auto remove the water. Next its important to keep the %RH below 60% to prevent mold growth in the ducts. Monitor with a %RH meter. It may be necessary to blow dehumidified air through the ducts to prevent condensation and mold growth.

[BILL FLETCHER]

Did anyone come up with a solution to this problem. I have the same problem.

[Author]

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