From the beginning of the build job until the last day a house is standing, many materials go through a repetitive process of getting wet and drying out, getting wet and drying out. When the material is getting wet more often than it is drying out, moisture (water) accumulates. When moisture accumulates past the saturation point, the material begins to deteriorate.

Most moisture problems in the home originate from three major causes:

1. Lack of knowledge about the properties and behaviors of water, water vapor, and humidity. 

2. Faulty construction.

3. Improper or lack of maintenance.

The most serious forms of moisture damage are:

Moisture also causes odor problems in homes, often related to fungus growth and allows insects, rodents and dust mites to live in a home.

Before a moisture problem can be solved, though, the following factors must be determined:

• The source of the water
• The form the water takes--liquid, solid, vapor, or adsorbed.
• Why the water moved.
• How the water was moved.

Once these factors have been determined, it is possible to solve a water problem and keep the same or like problem from recurring.

Some of water problems are common sense. For example, common sense conveys that builders and home owners do not install carpet in areas prone to get wet such as baths, entryways, laundries and kitchens.