What is causing this damp?

northwest1965

It is only in the lounge and at various places. This is the doorway between lounge and hall.
It is also down the side of the fire surround and by the side of the sofa





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TheCyclingProgrammer

Looks like condensation to me. Do you have high humidity?

northwest1965

In the winter, we do have a lot of condensation on the windows but I use a Karcher vacuum on them first thing so i wouldn't say it was bad

Head_The_Ball

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Looks like condensation to me. Do you have high humidity?

I agree. We had similar in our dining room. We didn't use it much so we turned down the radiator TRV so the room was cooler than the rest of the house with the inevitable result that the room suffered from condensation.

OP. you need to improve the heating and/or the ventilation in that room.

Try cleaning the walls with a mild bleach solution.

Aylesbury_Duck

northwest1965 wrote: »

In the winter, we do have a lot of condensation on the windows but I use a Karcher vacuum on them first thing so i wouldn't say it was bad

What you do with the windows after they're wet is irrelevant. What you're vacuuming off the windows is just that moisture which has condensed on the windows. You appear to have a humidity problem where moisture is condensing on those walls. The vacuum won't do anything about that. You need to reduce humidity and improve ventilation.

northwest1965

Ah, that is most helpful, thank you.

It's our main lounge, with a gas fire (never used).

Is it a case of just buying a humidifier or should I be looking at doing other things?.

coffeehound

Is your home a bungalow?

Aylesbury_Duck

Look at the possible sources of humidity. Cooking, bathing/showering, drying clothes, breathing. The first two can be dealt with with proper extraction. The third, try to look for alternatives and the fourth? Ventilation. A dehumidifier will help but it's better to tackle the source of the problem rather than just dealing with the symptoms.

northwest1965

coffeehound wrote: »

Is your home a bungalow?

Its a 3 bed house and this is the only room that is like it

Doozergirl

northwest1965 wrote: »

Its a 3 bed house and this is the only room that is like it

I don't suppose it's the north/west side of the house as well?

JohnB47

I'll just add that it's a good idea to look at the air bricks fitted around the house - designed to allow air to travel from the outside and through the underfloor of the house. Are these in place and not blocked off and is the air flow unrestricted? Some people actually close these up in a misguided attempt to make the house warmer.

It could be that the flow is restricted under that particular area of the house and is letting humidity build up from below.

Just a thought.

In case you're not sure what an air brick is - they are terracotta, plastic or iron/steel vents, the size of a house brick, fitted around the house just below the damp proof course (at least that's where ours is).

Here are some modern plastic variants:

https://www.drainagepipe.co.uk/products/subfloor-ventilation/