Damp air costing me money

darkknight84

I didn't know exactly where to post this question within the forum, so I'll just go ahead and post it here.

The thing is, the flat I recently moved into is riddled with a never ending influx of damp air that was making me feel unwell for just the first few days I was there, forcing me to buy a dehumidifier that has taken over four litres of water out of the air everyday for the two weeks it has been on. it is currently on eco mode, only becoming operational when it senses a certain level of humidity in the air. which means in this dump, it is always on, and is costing me an extra £20-30 a month in energy costs.

Now I was told that the central heating is turned on during the winter months, and there are quite a few radiators in this place. so my question is this! will the radiators reduce the damp air, and limit the need for the dehumidifier being on for so long ? Thank you.

macman

So where is the dampness coming from? A higher ambient temp will not reduce the dampness, it will just mask it, because the warmer the room temp, the more moisture it will hold in suspension.
You need to address the real issue, which may well require better ventilation.

CashStrapped

Damp air is not somthing that just wafts into your house. The damp in their air must be created locally.

How is the damp presenting itself? Where is is forming?

How many people live in the property?

How big is the property?

Does it have upvc double glazing?

How often do you open the windows?

How do you dry your clothes? Tumble Dryer? Line? Radiators?

Does the bathroom and kitchen have extractor fans?

Do you use the heating at the moment?

Please answer the above and we may be able to help.

sheffield_lad

Sounds like a ventilation issue, do you have the windows open/fan when using shower? Does the cooker have an extractor to the outside?

darkknight84

Its an old victorian house, converted into flats. I am on the ground floor, and I am sure the house is not built on concrete, but earth. the floor slopes in various places, and there are cracks down the walls inside the property, which suggests to me there are foundation issues. the window is left open for a few hours a day if I am in. it is the ground floor, so I can't leave it open all the time for obvious security reasons. the majority of the dampness is coming from the lower skirting around the window wall, and upon examining the skirting, it is pretty much rotting away, and is masking a void between the outer wall and the skirting which not insulated nor filled in with concrete. below is bare earth, and I have had issues with slugs in my room over the past few weeks. I recently went round the room resealing the skirting with caulking seal, but this is just to keep the creepy crawlies out, its not having much effect on the damp. it almost feels as though it rises from underneath me though, through the floor boards. all I know for sure is, if it wasn't for this dehumidifier, I would of had to leave this place and just write off the £2500 I paid in advance for this six month lease, and move back in with my parents, because this damp would of caused me ill health im sure.

CashStrapped

You did not answer any of my questions.

flubrush

darkknight84 wrote: »

Its an old victorian house, converted into flats. I am on the ground floor, and I am sure the house is not built on concrete, but earth. the floor slopes in various places, and there are cracks down the walls inside the property, which suggests to me there are foundation issues. the window is left open for a few hours a day if I am in. it is the ground floor, so I can't leave it open all the time for obvious security reasons. the majority of the dampness is coming from the lower skirting around the window wall, and upon examining the skirting, it is pretty much rotting away, and is masking a void between the outer wall and the skirting which not insulated nor filled in with concrete. below is bare earth, and I have had issues with slugs in my room over the past few weeks. I recently went round the room resealing the skirting with caulking seal, but this is just to keep the creepy crawlies out, its not having much effect on the damp. it almost feels as though it rises from underneath me though, through the floor boards. all I know for sure is, if it wasn't for this dehumidifier, I would of had to leave this place and just write off the £2500 I paid in advance for this six month lease, and move back in with my parents, because this damp would of caused me ill health im sure.

It sounds like spoil from the inside of the outer wall and the lath and plaster, if that is used, has built up and bridged what damp proof course there was and your floorboards and skirting are sitting on a pile of damp earth. I had a similar problem at the rear corner of an old Victorian house I owned and the remedy was to lift the floor, dig out all the accumulated spoil to clear the damp proof courses, and lay new joists and floor. I also had to clear the damp proof courses on the outside of the property where a path had been built up over the years.

Since you are renting I suspect your best (?) bet would be to live with the problem for your six month contract, then look elsewhere for another room. The work required in the property will be expensive and very disruptive and the landlord might not be willing to undertake it. There might also be dry rot in there which will require even more expenditure.

Jim.

macman

If there is rising damp then that is an issue for your LL to address.
There are many things you can do to mitigate the effects, but you haven't answered the questions that were asked in post 3.

CashStrapped

Yes, before jumping to conclusions about expensive disruptive ways to solve the problem please actually answer the questions in post three. Without that we cannot help.

How is the damp/condensation presenting itself? Where is is forming? (Windows? Walls? High up on walls? Low down on walls All of these?)

How many people live in the property?

How big is the property?

Does it have upvc double glazing?

How often do you open the windows?

How do you dry your clothes? Tumble Dryer?

Line? Radiators?

Does the bathroom and kitchen have extractor fans?

Do you use the heating at the moment?

Answer these and we may be able to help.

darkknight84

CashStrapped wrote: »

Yes, before jumping to conclusions about expensive disruptive ways to solve the problem please actually answer the questions in post three. Without that we cannot help.

How is the damp/condensation presenting itself? Where is is forming? (Windows? Walls? High up on walls? Low down on walls All of these?)

How many people live in the property?

How big is the property?

Does it have upvc double glazing?

How often do you open the windows?

How do you dry your clothes? Tumble Dryer?

Line? Radiators?

Does the bathroom and kitchen have extractor fans?

Do you use the heating at the moment?

Answer these and we may be able to help.

It is a studio flat. one living room/bedroom with kitchen and a separate shower room and toilet.

It is a three floor victorian house, converted into 5 or 6 separate flats.

It has upvc windows and is double glazed.

There is no tumble dryer or washing machine.

there are 2 radiators in the living area and 1 in the shower room, that are not currently active.

I use no heating, except that which the dehumidifier provides.

The shower room has an extractor fan which is used during a shower.

window is left open a few hours per day while I am home.

I live alone, but there are couple's in the other flats, so maybe 8 to 11 people live in the whole building including myself.

And the damp feels like its coming from the outerwall/window and below through the floor boards.

CashStrapped

Without inspecting the property and the overall quality of the house (when it was first built) and how well it has been converted and maintained it is hard to say.

Is the kitchen open to the sleeping/living area or enclosed? This can contribute to a producing a lot of water vapour..

Is your flat below ground level at all? Or is it just a ground floor coversion (used to be a front or back room).

If you can and have eliminated yourself as the cause of producing the water vapour this will help. Based on the answer to the questions, if you are out all day (and you ensure the extractor fan works well when you shower) it does not seem that you would produce enough water vapour to cause the issues you have. However it is a small flat. Even small amounts of water vapour produced by you can cause issues.

One person can easily produce maybe 5 litres of water vapour per day. If you flat is not well ventilated, this water vapour has no where to go. So what does it do? It will condesate on cold parts of external walls. This will usually be low down near the skirting where cold draughts will be.

So this could well be somthing related to how you live.