Advice please - cold, damp and condensation problems

Spiggle

Hi,

My daughter inherited her home which was built around 1930. The external walls were cavity insulated about four or five years ago and the loft is insulated.

The ground floor has floor boards in all the rooms off the hall which is a solid floor (not sure of the material but it looks a bit like polished stone chip or similar). The kitchen also has solid floor. The first floor has two bedrooms both of which have large dormer type windows (original to the house not added later). My DD sleeps in a bedroom on the ground floor and my two granddaughters sleep in the bedrooms upstairs. The two dormer windows and the kitchen window and door were replaced with good quality double glazed units about 18 months ago. All other windows have secondary double glazing fitted by Ev*r*st about 30 years ago.

So, the downstairs bedroom is very cold and she is getting condensation running down the walls. None of the walls are papered just painted plaster. The radiator is ridiculously under the window but that's symbolic of when the CH was fitted.

Both my GDs bedrooms are suffering similar condensation runs down the walls, they are also just painted plaster.

I have advised that at the least the external walls and preferably all walls are papered with warmaline/polystyrene insulation and then papered over. Would this be sufficient for these rooms do you think? As the ground floor bedroom has floorboards is there any other way to improve the heat and atmosphere of the room?

The bathroom was fully refitted 18 months ago and the radiator (on an internal wall) replaced with a towel rail. I really don't think this gives sufficient heat for the area. I know about the calculators for size and will use those. But as the bathroom has about a five foot circle of black mould developed above the bath/shower would changing back to a big radiator be sufficient do you think?

What do you think would be a reasonable price for someone to change it over please? If we got a large radiator to replace the towel rail and then moved the towel rail to the external wall would the extra cost of running the pipes about 10ft to the ourside wall be justified by the benefit of having two heat sources in there?

Does anyone have an opinion about putting warmaline/polystyrene insulation on the external wall of a bathroom please?

Also, my DD has been told that there is a possibility the house was built without a damp proof course (dpc). Could this be correct? If so, how could it be put right. And if there was no dpc should the house have been cavity wall insulated please?

Finally, do you have any tips for adding further insulation in boarded rooms please?

I understand about airing and open windows etc (DDs partner thinks opening the windows defeats object of heating) and a friend has lent my DD a dehumidifier as well. One obvious answer is to replace all the other windows but that is just way way way out of my DDs pocket at present.

Any help you can offer will be very gratefully received so thanks in advance.

Look forward to hearing from you,
Spigs

daveyjp

The extensive insulation may well be causing the problems. The water vapour can't escape, cavity wall insulation could well have been the wrong thing to do as it may be causing damp to bridge the cavity. Increased ventilation and airflow will help, but you may need more radical solutions.

Spiggle

Thank you for answering daveyjp,

What do you mean by 'more radical solutions please? The CW insulation was done before she owned the house by the way.

Thanks very much for your answer,
Spigs

budgetdiyer

It sounds like some ventilation would go a long way to help, without ventilation you will get condensation in ANY home.

An external vent in each room would help (to minimise condensation a vent should be fitted high on the wall not low)

Does the bathroom have an extractor fan? I'm guessing with the large mould stain it does'nt!?

Does your daughter dry clothes in the house?

Its worth mentioning that actually increasing the heating can / will increase the condensation levels. As the hotter air can carry more moisture.



BTW Radiators should be fitted under windows!

Spiggle

Thank budgetdiyer,

No no exractor fans in evidence. Interesting about higher heat making the condensation worse.

Why should radiators be fitted under windows BTW? My Bungalow has all the rads on internal walls it was the first central heating in the place.

Oh, and all my external walls are warmalined. I don't get any damp/condensation problems now but did before this was done.

Do you or anyone else know how we can check whether DDs house has a dpc please? The CW insulation was done before she inherited the house but I'm wondering if it shouldn't have been done if there is any come back on the company. I know ours has a 15 year guarantee so just wondering.

Thanks again and in advance for any other replies,
Spigs

budgetdiyer

You can check for visible signs of a damp proof course from outside, you should clearly be able to see it near the foot of the walls outside. Sometimes different type bricks are used above and below a damp proof course.

If your daughter has rising damp it will only rise around a maximum of 1 metre from the exterior ground level. So whilst the presence of damp might make the condensation worse it is effectively a separate issue.

Ive worked in a letting agency for many years and the amount of 'damp' problems i come across is amazing but 9 times out of 10 it is a condensation issue and there is only so much you can do to a building to minimise condensation. You need to try and manage how and where the condensation is generated.

In a home the main ways of generating condensation are:

1) Breathing!
2) Drying clothes inside
3) Cooking on hobs - use lids on pans and use extractor fan and / or open a window to let moisture escape
4) Using bath or shower
5) Use of tumble dryers (incorrectly vented etc)

I would look at installing an extractor fan in the bathroom (i intend to do this in my own home this year as we have been managing the condensation for the last two years now). This should make a BIG difference for us.

Our other main cause of the condensation is drying clothes inside, but with a children its difficult with the amount of washing they produce, try and keep the drying of clothes to one room (keeping the door of that room closed and a window open will help the moisture escape).

Reference why radiators under windows the cold air near the window helps circulate the heat better. Can i guess your house originally had no central heating? When installers retro fit the heating the usually place radiators so minimal pipes are on show!

olly300

OP the problems in your daughter's house like the others indicate seem to stem from the lack of ventilation which hasn't been helped by the previous owners filling the cavity. Properties with air cavities were purposely designed like that and most of them worked well because the properties also had air bricks in rooms, single glazed windows and fireplaces.

With the introduction of central heating lots of people sealed their houses mistakenly thinking that they doing a good thing as it kept the heating in.

Does your daughter's house have:
1. Air bricks in some of the rooms?
2. Trickle vents in the double glazing?
3. If fireplaces have been removed a vent in that wall that is kept open at all times?
These measures would reduce the condensation in the house.

If the airbricks have been blocked up they need to be unblocked asap. If there are none then they need to be made in the rooms as already posted by another poster. If there are no vents where the fireplaces once where and the chimney is still present then a vent should be put in. This vent should be one that can't be closed.

Plus I've also lived in many properties of different ages with no extractor fans in the bathroom but a bathroom window that opens. Normally a small one. I quickly learnt that when taking a shower that window needs to be kept open and kept open for at least 20 mins afterwards as if this isn't done you get mould near the window and around the shower. It's preferable to keep the window open at all times you are in the house. The bathroom door should also be kept closed especially after the shower.

Likewise when cooking in the kitchen the extractor fan put on. Once the extractor fan is switched off open a window and the kitchen door should be kept closed at all times. Also things like putting lids on pots reduces the amount of condensation and also reduces the amount of energy used.