Heat against laminate flooring causes condensation

Question

I bought a house a year ago which had laminate flooring installed across the entire house.

Sometimes I will sleep on the floor on a foam mattress topper. I noticed that there would be days where I'd fold up the mattress topper and the back side of it would be damp. I originally found this out after leaving the mattress topper on the floor for several days and would sleep on it nightly. When I finally picked it up to put it away, the backside actually had some mold / mildew growing.

Fast forward to today. My dog has a bed he sleeps on. I picked up the bed and notice it was wet underneath. I didn't think anything of it because I had just washed it a week ago and figured maybe I hadn't dried it completely, but as I thought more, it seemed similar to what I experienced with the mattress topper.

Either I just sweat a lot and the dog bed truly wasn't dry or there is some sort of condensation issue.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I could imagine condensation forming on a cold floor but I would think less would form on top of your mat and dog bed. They would not get as cold as the flooring and they would protect the floor beneath from collecting condensation.

I would think that if you were sweaty enough to soak your mat through you would notice that. As re the pet bed - dogs don't sweat.

If moisture accumulates underneath things on the floor I think it is coming from beneath. If there is not something on the floor it evaporates. The bed or mat on top prevents it from evaporating into your house and it accumulates under there.

You could test this by taping a sheet of plastic wrap on the floor. Tape around all 4 edges. If moisture is coming up thru your floor the sheet will steam up.