Damp house help please

Taffyscot

ariba10 wrote: »

It is not expensive to run, about the running cost as a small fridge I should imaging.

I don't see that wall cavity insulation would make much difference -But I stand to be corrected on that-.

Do you dry washing indoors? That would account for a lot of condensation problems.

Thanks for your help. I have a dryer and I used to dry the clothes indoors sometimes but now I don't I try to use the dryer except for daily use of towels.

Taffyscot

Jnelhams wrote: »

You need to look at what's the root cause for all this mildew. Are you running gas / paraffin fires or cookers, and do you have an extractor fan in the bathroom and cooker hood? - These will all help reduce the levels of moisture in the house. Double glazing, carpets, wall insulation and not drying washing in the house will all help.

Talk to a surveyor or you local building control officer at the council to see if they can help pin point the causes.

It really should not be necessary to be running dehumidifiers and such like. (oh and avoid the specialist damp companies, until you have had a structral surveyor out, as these damp companies always find damp....even in the Sahara.)

Thanks, you share my sentiments exactly about running the dehumidifier all the time and talking to damp specialist companies. one charges £50 to come out even tho they say the estimate is free (but the person's time and petrol is not)
We have an extractor fan in the bathroom and a vent and fan in the kitchen, use a dryer to dry clothes, I do not have a paraffin heater or a gas fire. Methinks maybe I will get the government grant and have the wall insulation. thanks for the help

Taffyscot

Thanks for your reply I will try and find out about some companies that could put this forced air system in and how much it would cost. This makes a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately none of my lot are handymen to put such a unit in and might drive the price up considerably but will inquire.

Taffyscot

I put the dehumidifier in my son's room and it is nearly full in 12 hours. Will this or should this ease off under normal circumstances? My son has been away for 2 weeks for xmas and the room doesn't feel damp and there is no mould on his clothes right now. Do I expect the mould to come back when he is living in the room again? So should I get cavity wall insullation or will it make the damp worse? Thanks to all of you for your replies.

Jnelhams

Cavity wall insulation should make the walls warmer, see what you are trying to do is make sure the natural and quiet normal levels of humidity in the air does not condense on cold surfaces, giving home to moulds and fungi. So having Cavity wall insulation and a dry form of heating, but also ventilation will help.

In extreme circumstances, it is possible to buy fire retardent polystrene ceiling tiles and a wall lining that you then paper over, but you really should avoid this as it a pain to remove, and is easily damaged. It makes the walls and ceiling very much warmer and will stop virtually all condensation, but you need to speak to a structural surveyor for help to find this elusive root cause. Could you have old unlagged cold water pipes or a leak? You do seem to a have a puzzle. Make sure you do any cooking with lids on the pans, it saves energy and cuts down on the steam, make sure no one uses the bath/shower without the extractor fan on during and for 20 minutes after too.

Taffyscot

Jnelhams wrote: »

Cavity wall insulation should make the walls warmer, see what you are trying to do is make sure the natural and quiet normal levels of humidity in the air does not condense on cold surfaces, giving home to moulds and fungi. So having Cavity wall insulation and a dry form of heating, but also ventilation will help.

In extreme circumstances, it is possible to buy fire retardent polystrene ceiling tiles and a wall lining that you then paper over, but you really should avoid this as it a pain to remove, and is easily damaged. It makes the walls and ceiling very much warmer and will stop virtually all condensation, but you need to speak to a structural surveyor for help to find this elusive root cause. Could you have old unlagged cold water pipes or a leak? You do seem to a have a puzzle. Make sure you do any cooking with lids on the pans, it saves energy and cuts down on the steam, make sure no one uses the bath/shower without the extractor fan on during and for 20 minutes after too.

thanks for your suggestions. good point about the extractor fan because I do not keep it running after the shower. Had dynarod come in and check the cellar for leaks last week and they said it was ok. I think we will go ahead with cavity wall insulation it is making sense now after all you kind people explaining it to me in detail about the cold walls, heat and condensation.
thanks again all of you for your suggestions.
taffy

Kaz2904

A quick point.... our house had damp issues as the utility room is only single skin. Since last February we have had a dehumidifier running constantly. At first, we had to empty it at least 12 hourly. Since then, we only need to empty it every other day. It has made a massive difference to us, the house is warmer and no longer damp. We don't dry washing indoors except in our condenser tumble drier.
Looking at our fuel bills and imeasure, our electricity use is up for December more than it was last December but we didn't have the dehumidifier. It is only up ever so slightly and imo the extra (small) cost is well worth the fact that I don't have to redecorate every few months and don't have nasty niffs. I don't have a cold house all the time either.
It is possible that the dehumidifier you have bought isn't quite strong enough for your needs and it's also possible that your dehumidifier is pulling in moisture from outside. If you've ruled out external causes of your damp, it can only be internal. If you dry out the air, your heating bills will go down.
Good luck, it's horrid having damp issues.

Taffyscot

It is possible that the dehumidifier you have bought isn't quite strong enough for your needs and it's also possible that your dehumidifier is pulling in moisture from outside. If you've ruled out external causes of your damp, it can only be internal. If you dry out the air, your heating bills will go down.
Good luck, it's horrid having damp issues.[/QUOTE]
Hi HOw do I know if the dehumidifier is pulling moisture in from the outside? We don't have windows open as it is far too cold? The dehumidifier is quite a big strong one and certainly gets full of water every time we put it on. Thanks for your suggestions. Maybe we should put it on more often. Taffy

ariba10

Buy a Humidity meter such as the one below. you will then have an idea as to how often you need to use it. ( They are not expensive)


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=humidity+meter&!!!!!googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=7877369209&ref=pd_sl_1j1x59xrr_b

Taffyscot

ariba10 wrote: »

Buy a Humidity meter such as the one below. you will then have an idea as to how often you need to use it. ( They are not expensive)


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=humidity+meter&!!!!!googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=7877369209&ref=pd_sl_1j1x59xrr_b

wow thanks for that. which one do you suggest that I get?