Damp House. what to do??

miss_corerupted

Hi all,
i have searched but couldn't find anything. I'm living in a quite old stone cottage which is quite damp. We have no heating apart from woodburner in living atm, we don't use it much at the moment. Problem is things are starting to feel damp in the rest of the house like clothes in wardrobe and my books!!
Has anyone anyone ideas how i absorp this moisture before it reaches my precious books??

janeym8

place some bowls of salt about the place.thats what we do at the caravan and it works.plus its cheaper than buying the moisture absorbant crystals or a dehumidifier.

make sure place is aired as much as poss as well

try to dry your clothes outdoors so no extra moisture gets put into air from either clothing over clothes horse/radiators or from a tumble drier

janey xxx

Magentasue

I think warmth and ventilation are the answers. Does this help?

http://www.dover.gov.uk/energy/dampandmould.asp

Belt-tightener_2

We live in a solid brick house (no cavity wall) and we have had very bad damp we could not have a injected damp course dur to the build type but we did have several walls tanked obviously if yours are not plastered then that is no a option but we visited Beamish last year and spoke to one of the staff and he said they have to keep the fires going in the cottages or they do get damp even the ones that have been relocated.

Our coal fire has made a big difference even though we have central heating since we use the fire we have not had as much problems with the sub floor timbers.

miss_corerupted

cool thanks guys, can't really spend money atm so prob be putting salt around. i have been drying clothes inside cause of the rubbish weather so that's obviously made it worse. Must put fire on more often as well even if don't really feel the need just to keep the damp at bay

Sunny_Donny

If and when you do have some money - buy a dehumidifier - look on ebay to see if they have any cheap ones or ask on freecycle.
I have one for my damp cellar and can vouch for it. I have 2 freezers down there and it does absorb the water in the atmosphere.

Frugalista

Hi,
Like you, we also live in an old stone cottage with a woodburner as our only heat source. We have a damp problem too as I don't think the cottage has a damp course. We also have 12 large, hairy dogs who puff & pant all night. (No, they don't pee in the house! )

Last year we bought a de-humidifier and placed it at the bottom of the stairs in the lounge and ran it almost permanently. We were emptying out a litre of water every day!!:eek: However, slowly but surely, the cottage started to feel much warmer and cosier even when we didn't have the fire going.

We then invested in a second de-humidifier which we put in our bedroom. Once a week I open all the warderobe doors and pull the duvet down off the bed and run the de-humidifier for the day just to keep on top of things.

We have found that we have lost that horrible cold, clammy feel and are definately much warmer. We have even saved a little on fuel as we don't have to have the logburner going all the time (Yes, I know it is costing us more in electric, but its swings & roundabouts).