Bad condensation and mould in bathroom!

Courtney25

Thank you! Could you recommend a humidifier? I don’t have a massive amount of money

googler

Leave the door open whenever you can, and when the fan is on, so that it draws dry air in from outside the room.

kuratowski

A Dehumidifer will cost about £150-£200 (can't post links, but take a look on Argos). It will also cost electricity to run, on a tight budget I realise this may be too much, sorry. Not quite so effective, but you can also get damp traps (little boxes of gel that absorb moisture) - can usually find them in large supermarkets, Wilko, etc.

Edit: + Agree with good advice from others about running fan, leaving door open, etc

gardner1

Courtney25 wrote: »

Thank you! Could you recommend a humidifier? I don’t have a massive amount of money

Have a look on amazon for reviews / questions etc on decent models then maybe buy used one off eBay or Gumtree
As an added bonus they are great for drying washing indoors....we have a clothes horse in spare bedroom during winter months,as drying wet stuff on radiator is a big no no as well as keeping house nice and dry and condensation free

esuhl

Courtney25 wrote: »

Thank you! Could you recommend a humidifier? I don’t have a massive amount of money

I'm very pleased with my EcoAir DD3 Simple.
https://www.ecoair.org/DD3-Simple.html

gardner1

OP

once you've done a bit of research buy a used one of ebay if your on a budget

De'longhi are a good make we have a DEC16 model and it collects a lot of water from wet washing and worked a treat when used to dry house out after steam stripping wallpaper off every room in house,and only costs 2-3p an hour to run

Fire_Fox

Welcome to MSE.

Is the extractor fan vented outside? If yes is the duct run short and straight? Do you have any instructions or can you download the manual? Do you open windows when you open the bathroom door or open windows regularly in general?

If the extractor fan is sufficiently powerful and ducted appropriately, and the bathroom door is not a tight fitting fire door, try closing the bathroom door when you are clearing the worst of the condensation with the extractor fan. A regular fitting door is leaky enough to allow air in from your home to help the fan take the saturated air out.

Opening the bathroom door right after showering or bathing sends saturated air into the rest of your home, rather than removing the excess water (unless you throw open windows).

Agree wear a face mask when cleaning mouldy areas, and use a proper mould killer spray.

Do not paint over damp, this will worsen the problems and cost you more money over time. No reputable decorator would paint over a damp and mouldy wall anyway. Friends and family will understand if you explain. The new fan and new paint suggests the previous tenant had the same issue.

Instead of spending on professional decorating get a good electric dehumidifier and/ or reduce the amount of water released by altering your lifestyle. Shorter or less frequent baths and showers (moneysaving in itself), never air drying laundry indoors and so on.

The cheapest three Which? Best Buy dehumidifiers are Ecoair DC18 (overall score 71%), Ecoair DD1 Simple (74%), and Meaco Junior DD8L (84%), all £150 to £160. All except one of the Which? Best Buys are from the Meaco and Ecoair brands.

The Which? Don't Buy dehumidifiers are almost all Dimplex brand and are marked as safety concerns. Although a dehumidifier uses electricity to run, that energy is converted to heat. If you turn the heating down slightly you might not end up any worse off.

HTH!

Doom_and_Gloom

First you need to get rid of the problem. Painting over it will just lead to more problems and a never ending cycle. It can be a health hazard so do get it sorted.

We swear by our dehumidifier, our one gave up the ghost recently and we have recently ordered another we are waiting for. It's the same brand (ebac) but a better model that has a laundry function and air purifier too. Our old model is still available for £199.99 on their site which isn't bad and it is rather cheap to run (320w), it did us well as it was on basically every day since we bought it (used in room with doors shut to dry clothes or to help with condensation in our flat). The brand is specifically made for the English climate too so it does it's job better than others.

nomorekids

Not the same problem as you but we had a leak into the downstairs cloakroom. The mould, the spongey plaster was such a nightmare and I did resort to cleaning the mould off and painting when visitors came and believe me, the paint just peeled away a few days later leaving the walls in worst state.

We bought a dehumidifier, running it and emptying it of water all the time it seemed was having no effect on the mould or plaster.

Then bingo, we worked it out and clingfilmed the toilet bowl and kept the plug in the sink also as afterthought.


Then and only then did the cloakroom start to dry out.

Mistral001

Check that the fan is actually extracting the air. The duct beyond the fan could be blocked. If it is possible go to the outlet on the outside of the building and check if air is coming out when the fan is on.