Condensation

follyfoot

Has anyone used products by Biokill Crown to prevent condensation?

Jowo_2

Do you mean that it prevents mould? Condensation is merely vapour and this can be caused by breathing in the property! No idea on the product but...

Condensation is usually caused by occupants, often aggravated by inadequate heating and ventilation (failure to air steamy kitchen/bathroom by opening windows or using fans, drying wet clothing indoors, not using lids on pans, etc).

Mould can either be caused through occupants behaviour that generates condensation or by damp caused through defects such as a leaking pipe or poor building design.

It is better to prevent it and thus causing mould in the first place - fans, ventilation bricks, good heating/ventilation and so forth.

There's a good leaflet on condensation and mould, how to identify, treat and prevent it, on the landlordzone website, a pdf document, which you can find by putting in the search terms there.

follyfoot

according to their site they claim to have a 5 year guarantee against mould: https://www.biokil.co.uk

Jowo_2

personally, I can't see the benefit of the product when the source of the mould has not been identified and fixed, otherwise the householder has a product that masks the symptoms of damp without curing the problem.

follyfoot

Jowo wrote: »

personally, I can't see the benefit of the product when the source of the mould has not been identified and fixed, otherwise the householder has a product that masks the symptoms of damp without curing the problem.

according to the building insurers it is lifestyle and poor ventilation. I put an air vent in the bedroom but it just seems to be worse.

BitterAndTwisted

Then the problem isn't lack of ventilation. There's too much vapour in the air coming into contact with cold surfaces or it's damp

follyfoot

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Then the problem isn't lack of ventilation. There's too much vapour in the air coming into contact with cold surfaces or it's damp

how do i overcome that? Insurer brought some meter to check for rising damp and said that was not the problem

David_Aldred

Hi Follyfoot,
At this time of year condensation / mould become common topics on here so please have a look at my other posts on here regarding these issues and dampness / cavity wall insulation all of which may be helpful to you.

The anti-mould paints are made by several manufacturers and the damp proofing industry provides even more comprehensive decorative systems such as Wykamol's three stage system of Sterilisation, primer stabiliser and anti-mould emulsion (see www.wykamol.com or ww.safeguardeurope.com )

These painting systems that contain biocides will certainly help surpress mould growth but will not address excess humidity. The sources of the excess humidity may be occupancy / lifestyle or structural or a combination of both. If the situation is transient then it may be tolerated so long as you keep the mould growth to a minimum as it is the products of mould growth that will make you poorly so if you do nothing else make sure you keep on top of wiping this mould away with appropriate biocidies / weak bleach where appropriate etc.

You should have in your mind that when the house was originally built it would have been relatively dry apart from say condensation upon single glazed windows so what changes have occurred to both the house and the way you live since that time. Such changes may be fireplaces are no longer in use, cavity wall insulation may be inappropriate for that particular house, double glazing may have been fitted that moved condensation from windows to the next coldest surface, it may be damp under suspended timber floors not helped by extensions of a solid floor that compromised venting under such floors. Rooms may have become open plan allowing warm moist air to move to colder areas and condense out etc.

There are various ways of removing excessive moisture laden air be that natually through backgroudn ventilation or mechanically by extractor fans, fans that take air from loft spaces and blow this air into the house to push damp air out of the way, dehumidifiers etc but you do need to check there is not an underlying structural problem that could be resolved such as damp vapours emerging up into the property from beneath any suspended timber floors or wet cavity insulation etc.

An open fireplace will provide 2-5 air changes per hour to a room so you can see what effect sealing one of those up has on the excess humidity. Also bear in mind that once a propery becomes damp in this way it may take several months for it to dry down as the fabric of the building will want to be in balance with the excessive humidity and therefore suck it up like a big sponge until in balance with it.

It really is a package of measures to address the issues rather than a single issue to address but take a common sense approach and resolve what is cheap and obvious first before spending hundreds of pounds. Simple things like cooking and bathing with doors to the rest of the house shut and getting rid of this moisture laden air before it can move to other parts of the house help a lot but will not resolve something like damp vapours emenating up from sub floor voids so you see how you should look at the situation as a whole rather than one single thing.

Mould is not consistent with rising dampness since the moisture from the ground is usually contaminated with ground salts that tend to inhibit mould rather than encourage it. Mould is accordingly usually associated with more purer water sources such as condensation, leakage and penetrating dampness. Be mindful that condensation may not only occur upon surfaces but within the depth of the fabric of the building itself.

Going back to the anti-mould paints you may now appreciate that these are support measures only and not a primary control measure. So sort out the causes first otherwise the paint may be a waste of time and money. Hope this helps to some degree - further advice available kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor.