Dampness in Long Island (Mexico, Nassau: houses, living in, moving)

[Northeastcouple]

My wife and I were born and raised in Queens and after 35years, still reside there..As much as Queens is our home,we also consider ourselves to be real long Islanders since 75% of our families reside in either Nassau or Suffolk, many friends too, plus I have worked out there for over 10 years..

After all the time we spent out there,I havent heard until recently folks complaining about their house (not just the basement)being real damp, and really effecting them in terms of muscles and joint pain, arthritis, etc. after of course many years of living there.I for one have never experienced this staying over a friends or relatives house for a night or two...

My question: is Long Island really that damp? Is it because of the ocean or is it a few unlucky houses built in the wrong areas? and what are the long term effects or discomforts?

THANK YOU.

[Kbinspections]

Well its is very humid in the summer months that typically requires a dehumider in the basement for July and August (unless you have central A/C).

Never heard about the aches and pains........interesting.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by Northeastcouple

My wife and I were born and raised in Queens and after 35years, still reside there..As much as Queens is our home,we also consider ourselves to be real long Islanders since 75% of our families reside in either Nassau or Suffolk, many friends too, plus I have worked out there for over 10 years..

After all the time we spent out there,I havent heard until recently folks complaining about their house (not just the basement)being real damp, and really effecting them in terms of muscles and joint pain, arthritis, etc. after of course many years of living there.I for one have never experienced this staying over a friends or relatives house for a night or two...

My question: is Long Island really that damp? Is it because of the ocean or is it a few unlucky houses built in the wrong areas? and what are the long term effects or discomforts?

THANK YOU.

I've lived here almost all my life. Yes, it is damp as we are surrounded by water.

We've heard people talk about how it gets hot in AZ, "But it's a DRY heat," well I have come to find that when I am in VT, I can tolerate the cold up there better as "It's a DRY cold." We can have a 30 degree winter day here and it feels colder than 20 degrees in VT by virtue of LI's dampness.

I never felt the aches and pains brought about by dampness until after several years following an autoimmune diagnosis. The excessive dampness bothers me somewhat, but it's incoming rain storms that really hurt.

One note: when I am visiting coastal Florida, I experience much the same pain/discomfort; so this isn't a LI phenomena for me as much as it is caused by proximity to any large body of water which influences that region's weather.

[Johninwestbury]

It's been a damp winter. The weather pattern has south winds often coming up off the stronger than normal Gulf stream (water temps 200 miles south of MTK are in the 70s). I have the same problem. I'm thinking of getting a dehimidifier. For now I just put the a/c on. I've had to do it several times, esp during those tropical rainstorms we'd been having.
Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come due to possible global warming, though I have to say winters are much wetter and milder than they used to be. It hardly gets really cold and snows anymore.

[monkeygorilla]

Wow...guess I've gotten lucky! We've had no dampness in the house we moved into...not even in the basement. Guess we'll see how the summer is...

Now, the apt I lived in in NYC had major dampness issues, especially in the summer. We had buckets of DAMP RID in every room. For those who have dampness DAMP RID does an amazing job of sucking moisture out of the air.

[DrCrabby]

It's the barometric pressure that gets those aches and pains going. That's why it feels worse in bad weather. Try living in Florida where I am now (lived in NYC and Long Island). When those hurricanes threaten us from the Gulf of Mexico, that barometer drops like a rock and everything hurts.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by monkeygorilla

Wow...guess I've gotten lucky! We've had no dampness in the house we moved into...not even in the basement. Guess we'll see how the summer is...

Now, the apt I lived in in NYC had major dampness issues, especially in the summer. We had buckets of DAMP RID in every room. For those who have dampness DAMP RID does an amazing job of sucking moisture out of the air.

In my case it's more the dampness/humidity in the air, not the house itself. However on LI, our environs are more damp than their inland (off LI) counterparts.

[NYLIER]

If you have a house on the water you need central air conditioning. The humidity will ruin your upholstered furniture. I live in VT now. The first year my body ached in places it never ached before!! The humidity on LI is good for your skin also. My skin looks terrible since I moved to VT. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the environment and the well water. I was spoiled with the public water system. I would never move back though. It's just not the same anymore.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by NYLIER

If you have a house on the water you need central air conditioning. The humidity will ruin your upholstered furniture. I live in VT now. The first year my body ached in places it never ached before!! The humidity on LI is good for your skin also. My skin looks terrible since I moved to VT. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the environment and the well water. I was spoiled with the public water system. I would never move back though. It's just not the same anymore.

I have to run a humidifier 24/7 in my VT house. Forced hot air heat, coupled with dry, cold exterior air does a number on my skin. I find myself using oodles of Lubriderm. I prefer the well water in VT for washing my hair as opposed to the SCWA water.

[Northeastcouple]

Hey: Thanks for all those responses,I def. figured it was a "ocean thing' like many of you pointed out about Florida and othr coastal areas...

For the VT folks : Is well water all that bad? My wife and I have often considered moving right next door to you guys in New Hampshire ...