Why Hot Weather Makes Your Plumbing Sweat | Mr. Rooter Houston

By now, Houston residents are beginning to experience the warmer weather late spring and early summer brings to the metro area. While we don’t often need to worry about frozen pipes and the other effects extreme cold can have on plumbing, hot and humid weather brings with it another set of issues. If you’ve noticed water droplets forming on the exterior of your plumbing fixtures or pipes, you're likely experiencing a common issue Mr. Rooter Houston sees in the summer—plumbing sweat.What Causes Sweating?Of course, your toilet isn’t really sweating. Instead, the cool water inside your toilet’s tank—or inside your sink’s pipes—cools the surface. As warm, humid air makes contact with these much cooler surfaces, droplets of condensation form.Just as you’ve likely noticed on your glass of summer lemonade, condensation can build up until it runs down the side of the cool surface, pooling at the bottom. In your bathroom, these droplets can drip from the bottom of your toilet tank or pipes and pool in the area beneath. Ignore condensation too long, and you can wind up with a relatively large puddle of water around your toilet and in your sink cabinet.Can Condensation Cause Damage?At the very least, constantly wiping up puddles caused by dripping condensation is a pain. In addition, you risk slipping on the water gathering at the base of your toilet or in front of your sink. Left to its own devices, however, standing water can cause damage to your flooring and subfloor—not to mention the mold you risk in dark, damp places like your sink cabinets.Aside from cleaning up condensation when it occurs, there are a few steps you can take to address condensation in your bathroom, including:

• Utilizing your vent fan whenever possible
• Keeping your home’s temperature relatively cool by running your air conditioner
• Adding insulation to under-sink pipes and toilet tanks
• Purchasing a portable or whole-home dehumidifier
• Adding an anti-sweat valve to moderate the water temperature inside your tank

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