Mould in Recently purchased house

Doozergirl

Grenage wrote: »

Sure it is; cold surfaces and high moisture result in condensation; you can either reduce the moisture content, and/or increase surface temperature.

Every kg of extra weight in wet washing is about a litre of water being dumped into the air; tie that in with no extraction for showers and cooking, or open windows, and you're !!!!!!ed. That's lifestyle choices, not the fault of the building.

Except the OP moved from a house that presumably did not have this problem. Presumably they led the same sort of lifestyle. The problem is that this particular house cannot cope.

It doesn't even have an extractor fan upstairs. Current building regulations demand one. They aren't retrospective but even as a kid before having central heating we had extractor fans in our bathrooms.

This house is not set up correctly. We can reasonably expect our houses to cope with getting rid of a good amount of moisture; even drying washing on rads occasionally! The problem is that it is trapped in the OP's house. It is a fabric problem and it can be solved by addressing the cause - inadequate ventilation.

FBaby

Most people in this country can have the luxury of drying their clothes on radiators and not opening their windows.

The problem usually has something to do with the building fabric, whether it's the way a house is built or it being altered over time. British houses are built breathing with airflow running through them. People start sealing them up and problems occur.

Lifestyle can and will affect it but everybody should be able to live, producing reasonable amounts of moisture without having to worry about mould spores.

Indeed, some houses are better insulated than others. Indeed, some places in England are less humid than others. So if you are the type of person who doesn't want to keep windows open and want to dry your clothes or radiators, then make sure you but a house with the best insulation you can get!

Most people in my town don't have the luxury you refer to, as a matter of fact, almost all my neighbours have open windows at various times of the day because the alternative is dealing with mould.

Norman_Castle

DeanE153 wrote: »

the downstairs bathroom has an extractor but the (bigger) upstairs bathroom does not.

If the bathroom upstairs has a bath or shower it is very likely this is causing the damp. An extractor here should be a priority.

dirty_magic

FBaby wrote: »

Indeed, some houses are better insulated than others. Indeed, some places in England are less humid than others. So if you are the type of person who doesn't want to keep windows open and want to dry your clothes or radiators, then make sure you but a house with the best insulation you can get!

Most people in my town don't have the luxury you refer to, as a matter of fact, almost all my neighbours have open windows at various times of the day because the alternative is dealing with mould.

It's still mostly a problem with the house. We used to get mould in our old flat. I hardly ever dried washing indoors, I cooked with lids on pans, bathroom window was open whenever we showered etc. I read all the advice and none of it worked. Just the two of us sleeping produced enough moisture to cause mould. It ruined my shoes in the wardrobe and it ruined some of our furniture.

We've moved now and we don't have any problems. If anything I'm more relaxed about the things you're not supposed to do because we don't have any issues. The difference is we have an extractor fan in the bathroom, the house is well insulated and has central heating and the windows let more draught in. Our flat had electric storage heaters; it was built to keep the heat in all day, thus preventing any ventilation, and it had no extraction.

You shouldn't have to have your windows open all the time in winter, and it's not practical to dry clothes outside in winter. People are made to think they're doing something wrong when really the majority of the problem is with the house!

inner_grace

I have one of these in my house and they are excellent. Mine cost £350 to buy directly from the supplier and another £150 to have fitted if I remember rightly. I didn't have an extractor fan for my bathroom and after having upvc windows the condensation because quite bad. I haven't had any issues with condensation since the installation of the PIV and can't recommend it highly enough. I could have had just an extractor fan fitted in the bathroom but when considering the cost of a decent one in comparison to one that could do the whole house it was a no brainer. I'm not a fan of lots of air bricks because they also allow cold air in so not the most energy efficient way of ventilation especially if you already have a solid brick house.

FBaby

It's still mostly a problem with the house.

No, it's a problem with modern society who think that cold air is to be avoided at all cost! People are not physically active as they used to do and therefore are more vulnerable to feeling cold.

It is normal to open your windows all through the year. It is normal to have some ventilation coming through, it is normal to have house where the temperature goes down a bit before it warms up again.

There are preventive measures that can be taken to help, but ultimately, if you want a lifestyle of very limited flow of air, then you are most likely going to experience issues. blaming it on the house is like blaming older houses for not having toilets downstairs, not having larger rooms, not having front drives. They don't because people at the time they were build didn't need it like we do now.

moneyistooshorttomention

I agree that it's the houses' fault - and not to do with the owner.

My last house had somewhat of a problem in this respect. It was a Victorian terrace house (which, I gather, do have to be lived in rather "carefully" basically - because they're a bit prone to this). All the windows were doubleglazed (fitted by my workmen - and with no trickle vents - because no-one had said they were necessary - so I hadnt known to specify that). The walls weren't cavity walls - and therefore couldnt have cavity wall insulation.

Fast forward to current house - and no problem. I would say the difference is that it is a more modern era house and has cavity wall insulation. The windows all have trickle vents - and so I can/do permanently leave bathroom window/one of the kitchen windows and my bedroom window with the trickle vent left open. The only problems I've noticed are with some possessions I brought with me from my last house and one item I was given by someone here (and their house turned out to be a damp one).

In both houses I use the bathroom extractor fan after having a shower. In both houses I do have to have washing drying indoors (ie neither of them having a garage/conservatory/whatever outdoors). Only difference in way I use the house basically is that the central heating is on all day in this house - as I am now retired (and hence in and out throughout the day). In previous house the central heating was normally on for a spell at the beginning of the day and then again in the evening. Current house is about to have one of those cooker hood extraction fans in the kitchen (as I'm about to have a new kitchen) - though I've been fine without it since moving here as far as I can make out. Last house didnt have any kitchen extraction - as the only way that could have been done was to knock out a hole in the kitchen window and put an ugly/old-fashioned fan built into window set-up (ie so it didnt happen then).

If I'd kept my last house - I would, almost certainly, have got one of those PIV units. Plus tried to find out whether I could retrofit trickle vents into those windows. Plus put in the damp-proof course no previous owner had ever had put in. Plus gone through the house having it replastered (which it needed anyway). I didnt do any of that - because I'd had to do so much work to the house as it was and that was combined with thinking I'd surely be moving from it before long (throughout the many years I landed up having it for in the event). I'd known from Day 1 I didnt intend to keep the house for long....

Doozergirl

FBaby wrote: »

No, it's a problem with modern society who think that cold air is to be avoided at all cost! People are not physically active as they used to do and therefore are more vulnerable to feeling cold.

It is normal to open your windows all through the year. It is normal to have some ventilation coming through, it is normal to have house where the temperature goes down a bit before it warms up again.

There are preventive measures that can be taken to help, but ultimately, if you want a lifestyle of very limited flow of air, then you are most likely going to experience issues. blaming it on the house is like blaming older houses for not having toilets downstairs, not having larger rooms, not having front drives. They don't because people at the time they were build didn't need it like we do now.

All british houses are built designed to breathe. Whether it is a modern, airtight Passivhaus with a properly managed ventilation system or a Victorian house built with drafts running straight through it from every angle.

The point is that no house should ever have limited airflow. If it has limited airflow it is not working properly. You block it up, you suffer. The person blocking it all up creates the problem with the house!

Opening windows is the mitigation, not the solution because it is not a sufficient, consistent way of managing moisture. Plenty of people come here with problems who don't dry washing on radiators and open windows as much as they can - and they still have problems.

It is a simply, long recognised fact that houses need to breathe constantly, because every act of being human creates moisture and some acts, like burning, create poisonous gas. Opening the window while trying to keep warm in front of the fire does not make sense.

It isn't ventilation alone though. Cold is also a problem. North facing walls, single skin walls, uninsulated walls. You can have windows open constantly, but if the wall is always cold you have a problem.

It is a balance. You cannot point fingers at people and say it is lifestyle when the same people could live in a different house and never have to worry. Finger pointing doesn't solve their problem either. Altering the fabric would!

ComicGeek

Doozergirl wrote: »

All british houses are built designed to breathe. Whether it is a modern, airtight Passivhaus with a properly managed ventilation system or a Victorian house built with drafts running straight through it from every angle.

Absolutely agree - Victorian houses had leaky windows, draughty floorboards and open chimneys, and then we close the chimney, fit thick carpets and install air tight double glazed UPVC windows and wonder why there's a problem.

No insulation and poor ventilation = mould
Lots of insulation and poor ventilation = mould
Good insulation and good ventilation = no mould

Envirovent and PIV type systems can help with the condensation and reduce mould growth where it's not practical to install insulation, but must be installed in conjunction with good humidity controlled bathroom and kitchen extract fans.

I personally hate trickle vents and wall vents due to uncontrolled draughts, wind noise and noise transfer, but then we always have windows slightly open all year round to keep the air fresh instead. Doesn't make much difference to our heating bills as it's a reasonable well insulated house built in late 1980s - people seem to think that you're talking about having every window wide open, but the air flow through a small slightly open window is probably equivalent to a trickle vent anyway.

Mardle

We live in a large 110 year old end terrace house. We rarely have the windows open because of the noise nearby dual carriageway. We have no trickle vents in the windows.

Ventilation is provided by 2 extractor fans & open interior doors. We have a trickle extractor in the downstairs wet room and a humidistat extractor in the kitchen. We have an upstairs bathroom which currently doesn't have an extractor as we really only use it at night. We haven't used the bath at all in the 2 years we have lived here. We keep the heating on all the time as there is always someone at home. The radiators are warm rather than hot.

We have no condensation. In fact the air in the house at the moment is so dry that it is possible to have a quick shower without the wet room fan speeding up.