Analysis of Joist Masonry Moisture Content Monitoring

BSC TO5 Task 7.2 Analysis of Joist Masonry Moisture Content Monitoring
House - Lawrence, MA 01840

This work involved the field monitoring of embedded wood joist ends in a solid brick building in zone 5A that was retrofitted with interior insulation. Eleven joists throughout the building (which have a variety of orientations, exposures, and masonry wall types) were monitored for wood MCs at the embedded joist ends and for temperatures and RHs within the joist pocket. Indoor and outdoor conditions were also recorded. Results were collected for 28 months (December 2012-April 2015). One limitation was that the renovation was still ongoing; limited wintertime construction heating and no permanent occupancy were factors. Much of the building experienced cold interior temperatures (e.g., construction heating) during the winters. These were not typical interior heating set points. Because the building was essentially unoccupied, no significant interior moisture was generated. These boundary conditions are not normal service conditions.

Overall, the RHs and MCs measured in joist pockets were higher than recommended for longterm durability. Many of the joist pockets had sustained conditions of 100% RH, and many wood MCs were in the 25%-35% range for extended periods. Typical guidance includes: (1) MCs lower than 20% are safe, and (2) decay fungi become active at MCs higher than 28%. ASHRAE xi 160 analysis showed that high RH levels coincided with temperatures that were high enough to support mold growth for most of the monitoring period (60%-70% of the hours) in most joists. However, no damage was seen at the joist ends when the instrumentation was installed or when a joist end sample was removed. This suggests that dense, old-growth framing might be able to survive these MCs without damage.

Orientation has a significant effect on RH and MC levels: solar heating and drying kept all southfacing joist MCs well within the safe range. The east and west orientations had mixed results: some were in the safe range, but others exceeded the 20% MC level. The north side joists consistently had the highest MCs.

Almost all the joists showed seasonal rises and falls; MC and RH conditions were higher during the summer and lower during the winter. This indicates the temperature gradient caused moisture to be driven inward during the summer. MC plots with driving rain showed no discernable correlations.
In the parts of the building that had significant wintertime heating, many joists showed a drop in MC that coincided with the addition of heat, even after insulation and air sealing were installed.

The joist ends showed a repeated pattern of MC measurements at their upper and lower ends. The lower joist end was consistently wetter than the upper joist end, which can be attributed to contact with the masonry pocket, gravity drainage of bulk water to the bottom of the pocket, greater drying at the top of the beam or deeper embedment at the bottom of the beam, and a larger air pocket at the top of the beam. 
The north-facing insulated and uninsulated joist ends were compared; a significant or consistent MC or RH difference was not seen between these cases. All three joist pockets essentially remained at a constant 100% RH.

Tags: as-built, building-america, buildingamerica, cold, embedded-wood, insulation, interior-insulation, joist-ends, masonry, moisture-design, moisture-risk, residential, retrofit
Organization: Department of Energy