An air conditioner's condensate drainage system plays the important role of safely guiding moisture away from the air-conditioning system. As a result, an effective condensate drainage system is useful when it comes to preventing air-conditioner rust and moisture damage. However, mistakes made when installing your system's condensate drain lines can end up damaging your house. Here are condensate drainage-system installation mistakes that you should look out for.

Directing the condensate drain line near your home's foundation

In order to avoid the risks of bacterial infections that come with connecting the condensate drain line to a home's main drain piping, homeowners usually opt to set things up in such a way that condensate is emptied outside. While this is a safer option, directing the drain line to empty this water near your home's foundation can increase the risks of basement flooding. This is because consistently dumping air-conditioner water near the foundation could help in the buildup in hydrostatic pressure around your home. With time, this will accelerate the rate at which your home's walls crack and may lead to basement water leaks.

To avoid risks of premature wall damage, make sure that you install the drain line in such a way that it dumps the water a few feet away from your home's foundation. Emptying this water into an open sloping trench will also help to reduce the formation of water pools around your home and is thus recommended.

Directing the drain lines to your home's crawl space

Given that crawl spaces sometimes have dirt floors, homeowners sometimes direct the drain line to these spaces. They do so hoping that the dirt in the crawl space will simply absorb the moisture. The fact that most of these spaces are usually hard to reach only makes this more tempting. This is a mistake since the rate at which the crawl space dirt absorbs the moisture is rarely enough not to encourage mold growth. As a result, directing the condensate drain lines to this area exposes the home to mold attacks that may not only increase the risks of mold-caused allergies, but also decrease the value of the home.

To avoid mold attacks that originate from crawl spaces, direct the drain lines outside. Letting the drains empty the water into the gutter system is also an easy way of getting rid of the condensate without risking a home-wide mold attack.

Directing the drain lines to the roof

This is a mistake that happens in cases where a home has multiple roofs. In such cases, when the lines are directed outside through the eaves, there is always a risk of the condensate dripping onto a low-level roof. This dripping usually accelerates the rate at which the affected area deteriorates. As a result, this area will likely be more discolored when compared to the rest of the roof, creating an ugly mark on your roof. The condensate drips may also cause splashes that will create ugly stains on your home's siding installation.

If you have to use the roof, make sure that the condensate drain line empties the water into the roof's gutter system. Doing so will help prevent the ugly marks that condensate drips sometimes cause.

Talk to a company such as Mountain Air Comfort Systems for more information.