Windows dripping in condensation

Thomo2710

Hi there,

We moved into our house in the summer and while decorating and ripping some stuff out we noticed there were a few damp patches lying around on the walls, both upstairs and down.
Speaking to British Gas about my property when querying some stuff of my usage they held data about the previous owners usage and basically they virtually never had the heating on, like ever! (i know they should'nt have told me but they did)

3 bed semi and i have had everywall in the building re-skimmed so i know there is plenty of moisture in the walls in reality.

However the bathroom and our bedroom windows when cold outside just drip water off them, i have to ring the cloth out after doing my bedroom in the morning before i do the bathroom window.

Other rooms get a slight line of condensation accross the very bottom of each glass panel around the seals but nothing major.

House has loft and cavity wall insulation.
Windows are older metal framed but are double glazed.

There is an extractor fan in the bathroom and is on when showering and for 20 mins or so after!

Tend to have all doors upstairs closed to keep the kittens out of the rooms. I know this doesnt help.

Have new PVC glazing on the front foor porch area and also on the rear patio doors with the trickle vents open but they aswell still slightly condensate, so i know replacing the windoes with UPVC is not going to dramatically help me)

Heating in on for 1 hour in morn (room stat controlled to 21c) and 430-8pm (room stat controlled to 22c)
The house is a naturally cold house though!! Without heating it regualarly sits on 16c in the lounge and 10-12c in the kitchen!!! Ive seen the hall way as low as 7c!!!!! (laminate floor in lounge/hall, tiles on kitchen floor)

Only causes of condensation are showering, drying washing indoors and gas hob (but does have extractor hood, vented internally though)

Is a dehumidifier the answer to my problems?

Previous mould issues from previous owners (but no heating explains this). And they always had all the windows open no matter what the weather when they owned the house.

(sorry for long winded post but its better to have too much info than not enough to give advice on)

Kind Regards

themacster

Do the metal windows have trickle vents? If not, then this will minimise natural ventilation and won't be helping - if they have a vent setting, leave them slightly open at night and see if this helps; we have ours permanently on the vent setting.

Older metal windows even if double glazed, the frames will probably not be thermally broken so will be acting as a cold bridge. How wide is the air gap, again older windows may not have as wide an air gap as newer ones.

If you've skimmed all the walls, this will take a while to dry out, so it could well be this causing the condensation if they were only skimmed recently.

Having the doors closed shouldn't make a huge difference - there will be gaps around the edge of the leaf and under the foot enough to allow ventilation. We have our bedroom and bathroom doors closed at the moment but don't get condensation problems.

Is the ground floor suspended? Do the bathroom and bedroom face north?

Cooker hood extracting internally (that's an oxymoron!) certainly won't help matters. Why on earth doesn't it vent externally?

Might be worth checking for any leaking pipes.

A dehumidifier may well help, but its treating the symptoms, not the cause.

Thomo2710

themacster wrote: »

Do the metal windows have trickle vents?

No they do not.

themacster wrote: »

How wide is the air gap, again older windows may not have as wide an air gap as newer ones.

Not sure exactly how wide - however comparing against the UPVC we have at work, visually there does not appear to be that much difference

themacster wrote: »

If you've skimmed all the walls, this will take a while to dry out, so it could well be this causing the condensation if they were only skimmed recently.

They were skimmed over the summer, the last walls being done early September

themacster wrote: »

Is the ground floor suspended?

Not sure what you mean here

themacster wrote: »

Do the bathroom and bedroom face north?

Bathroom window faces North, bedroom faces east

themacster wrote: »

Cooker hood extracting internally (that's an oxymoron!) certainly won't help matters. Why on earth doesn't it vent externally?

Simple honest reason - we didnt have the core drill bit to vent outside!
Filter takes all cak out and re-circualtes fresh air does it not?

themacster wrote: »

Might be worth checking for any leaking pipes.

Dont believe i have any - all downstairs copper is new from last summer and thouroughly checked, upstairs was visually checked when floorbaords were up

yumyums

Thomo2710 wrote: »

Simple honest reason - we didnt have the core drill bit to vent outside!
Filter takes all cak out and re-circualtes fresh air does it not?
p

I've been trying to sort out the condensation in our house as the windows were dripping with water and black mould was forming around them. It got better since we got a dehumidifier and started leaving the bathroom window open. The dehumidifier uses a lot of electricity though!
I must say I noticed a massive difference in the amount of condensation since we got an extracting hood in the last month. Think about it - when you boil potatoes for example look at the amount of steam that comes off them. A recirculating hood doesn't get rid of any of the water vapour, it just filters out some smells & grease. The water vapour has to go somewhere.

Anyway hope you manage to sort it. Condensation can be quite distressing and the mould affects some peoples' breathing

themacster

As yumyums says, cooking generates a lot of water vapour, especially with gas as that itself gives of water when it burns. If it vents internally you're just leaving the water vapour in the house.

Suspended floor - timber boards on joists, or prestressed concrete beam and block, as opposed to a ground-bearing concrete slab. If suspended, there is an air void beneath and this will be cold so could be contributing to your house feeling cold.

ariba10

Have a read of this

http://www.harfordsonline.com/downloads/condensation%20info.pdf

gmgmgm

Your main problems are probably closing all the doors, the recirculating kitchen fan (yes, it cleans the air, but doesn't dry it) and drying clothes indoors.

Not a lot you can do about the fan, but try keeping the doors all open for a month, keeping windows ajar on dry days, and never never dry clothes indoors.

avenida

gmgmgm wrote: »

Your main problems are probably closing all the doors, the recirculating kitchen fan (yes, it cleans the air, but doesn't dry it) and drying clothes indoors.

Not a lot you can do about the fan, but try keeping the doors all open for a month, keeping windows ajar on dry days, and never never dry clothes indoors.

So where do we dry the clothes that cannot be tumble dried in the middle of winter? My only option is over radiators

Thomo2710

yumyums wrote: »

The dehumidifier uses a lot of electricity though!

I know all are different but any ball park figures on how much they use?
How is it best to use them?
During the day for a few hours each day?
Just while the heating is on?
24/7?

Thankyou

Thomo2710

i think i may consider hiring a core drill bit and venting the extractor hood to the outside.

Drying cloths indoors sometimes cannot be helped! I refuse to get a tumble dryer as i think they in general just a waste of money and energy (personal opinion) and sometimes its not practical to hang cloths on th eline and wait 2/3 days to dry in poor weather.

Thomo2710

themacster wrote: »

Suspended floor - timber boards on joists, or prestressed concrete beam and block, as opposed to a ground-bearing concrete slab. If suspended, there is an air void beneath and this will be cold so could be contributing to your house feeling cold.

Im sure its concrete base (house built in 60s)
There is an air brick under the lounge window though that the cavity wall men said they were not going to cover up becuase it is the air brick to vent under the floor