Damp in corner near window

Abc456zxc

Hi,

Anyone any idea what might cause damp in the corner of the window (where it meets the sill) and a sill that appears to be soaking up water. There's never any evidence of condensation on the window or sill. Prob will need to get some out to look at it I suspect but just wondered if there's anything I can try.

Pics of it are here: imgur.com/a/oQpnZ

Cheers

flashg67

Does the external seal round the window appear intact?

Abc456zxc

Thanks for your reply. Yes the exterior seal looks good as far as i can tell - both around the window and under the sill

minicooper272

So many things cause damp, it's hard to say. Is it a ground floor window? As sometimes it can come from water seeping up from the ground, but sometimes it just comes down to the age of the house and lack of fresh air, which a good dehumidifier can help with.

Apodemus

The damp lines on your wall look to me as if the wall has been properly wet, rather than just dampness from condensation in the room itself. It may be that you have a problem further up the wall or that there is a leaky pipe in the wall somewhere. Alternatively, if the building insulation has been compromised, you might have condensation trickling down to a point where it bridges in to the plasterboard at the window. How is that gate/fence fixed to the wall? Have the fixings compromised the insulation or bridged a cavity wall?

shortcrust

Apodemus wrote: »

The damp lines on your wall look to me as if the wall has been properly wet, rather than just dampness from condensation in the room itself. It may be that you have a problem further up the wall or that there is a leaky pipe in the wall somewhere. Alternatively, if the building insulation has been compromised, you might have condensation trickling down to a point where it bridges in to the plasterboard at the window. How is that gate/fence fixed to the wall? Have the fixings compromised the insulation or bridged a cavity wall?

This is what I wondered.

It took me a year of living in my house to work out that the various bits of damp that I thought were water 'leaking in' were all actually condensation. It's worth looking into. Proper airing of the house in colder months, not scrimping on the heating, keeping lids on cooking etc eliminated the problem for me.

I found one of these really helpful in understanding what's going on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacklife-Temperature-Thermometer-Agriculture-Meteorology/dp/B01NBVV2ZI/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1506846715&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=humidity+meter&psc=1

Apodemus

shortcrust wrote: »

This is what I wondered.

It took me a year of living in my house to work out that the various bits of damp that I thought were water 'leaking in' were all actually condensation. It's worth looking into. Proper airing of the house in colder months, not scrimping on the heating, keeping lids on cooking etc eliminated the problem for me.

I found one of these really helpful in understanding what's going on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacklife-Temperature-Thermometer-Agriculture-Meteorology/dp/B01NBVV2ZI/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1506846715&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=humidity+meter&psc=1

Agree with all that, but if the problem is cold-bridging or a breach in the thermal barrier, causing condensation in the fabric of the wall, then the OP might not manage to cure it simply by moisture control in the living space of the house.