Build it · interactive puzzle

Set Up a Drying Chamber, Then Run the Dry

A drying chamber is the room you close up and dry after a water loss: air movers sweep the wet surfaces, a dehumidifier pulls the moisture out of the air, and daily readings prove it worked. Get the count, the aim or the chamber wrong and the job runs days long, or grows mould. Here it's a 20 × 16 ft living room after a clean-water loss, with wet carpet and drywall wicked 12–18 inches up. Set it up from the equipment on the board, then run the dry and read the log.

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How many air movers does a room need?

A common starting point is one air mover for every 10 to 16 feet of wet wall, angled along the wall. This 20 by 16 foot room has 72 feet of wall, so 5 to 8. Add more for wet ceilings or offsets, and adjust to daily readings.

How to play

  • Drag air movers onto the spots along the walls. Tap one to aim it: straight out, or angled along the wall either way round.
  • Drag a dehumidifier into the middle of the room or against the door wall. Tap the one by the wall to change where its exhaust points.
  • Fit the drain hose and the thermo-hygrometer, and tap the door and window to close them.
  • Press Run the dry. The day-by-day log and any red rings show what worked and what didn't. Drag a piece off to move or remove it.

What the puzzle teaches

  1. Air movers go one per 10–16 feet of wet wall: 72 feet round this room means 5 to 8.
  2. Angle air movers along the wall, all turning the air the same way round, so the room's air moves as one loop and no stretch of wall is missed.
  3. Air movers that blow against each other, or straight out into the room, leave dead zones that stay wet.
  4. Size the dehumidifier from the room's volume: 2,560 ft³ ÷ 60 for an LGR at Class 2 is about 43 pints a day to start.
  5. A small home dehumidifier can't keep up with that load, so humidity stays high and mould becomes a risk above about 60% RH.
  6. Close the doors and windows: an open chamber means the dehumidifier dries the house, or the outdoors, instead of the wet room.
  7. Run a drain hose so the dehumidifier never stops on a full tank, and log temperature, RH and GPP inside and at the exhaust every day.

Parts on the list

  • 5–8 centrifugal air movers
  • LGR dehumidifier (~70 AHAM pints/day)
  • Condensate drain hose
  • Thermo-hygrometer
  • Moisture meter and a dry standard reading
  • Poly or a closed door to contain the chamber

A simplified teaching model. On a real loss, follow the current IICRC S500, the equipment makers' ratings, and your daily readings.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which way should air movers point?

Angled about 15 to 45 degrees along the wall, close to it, and all turning the same direction around the room, so the air sweeps every wet surface in one continuous loop instead of colliding.

How big a dehumidifier do I need for one room?

Divide the room's cubic feet by a class factor. For an LGR dehumidifier and a Class 2 loss that factor is about 60, so a 2,560 cubic foot room needs roughly 43 pints a day to start. Check the readings daily and add capacity if the GPP doesn't fall.

Why close the room when drying?

A closed chamber limits the air the dehumidifier has to dry to the wet room. With a door or window open it is also drying the rest of the house or humid outside air, so the room's humidity stays high and drying slows.

Keep reading

Build a Sink P-Trap That Actually Drains →Build a Toilet Tank: Fill Valve, Flapper and Chain →Wire a GFCI Outlet: Build-It Puzzle →Build It: Flash a Window in the Right Lap Order →Build It: Install a Door Lockset and Strike →Restoration Lab →

Rebuild work, run end to end

RestoredOS carries a job from the first call through rebuild and billing, with the scope, materials and crew in one place.

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