Dampness/Condensation issue in my living room

TriggerCut92

Doozergirl wrote: »

The advice you've been given so far is completely dud.

Too tired to address this properly right now, but there is a wider problem here to be addressed and it isn't dealt with by sleeping with windows open when you have single glazing, which is like having a window open already.

Is this a listed building, having single glazing?

I think it is listed. It was built around 1900. Anything you would suggest?

TriggerCut92

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Cold air holds less water than warm, so the water can settle on cool surfaces. I wonder why the walls were cooler than the single-glazed window panes though .... or are wet window panes an issue?

IMO anti-mould paint is an attempt to hide an ongoing problem. Some combination of inadequate ventilation, inadequate heating, inadequate insulation, resident lifestyle.




Could just be circumstances.

The flat will have cooled down naturally over the last three weeks. The season changing, little or no heating used, not even the air movement of a person moving from room to room.

Are the kitchen and bathroom extractor fans decent models/ maintained as in the user manuals/ correctly ducted outside? Noise =/= effective!

Nice to read of a decent landlord with a decent tenant.

They're good enough I suppose. Could probably do with an upgrade but they do the job. Although you need to switch the extractor fan on separately in the bathroom and when I asked her if she'd been doing that I got the feeling she hadn't really.

The windows are soaking too to be honest, it's just everywhere is fairly damp. Yeah maybe new windows would be a good idea, those ones you can open halfway at the top would help

Blackpool_Saver

tacpot12 wrote: »

Ventilation and heating are the answer. If the property is properly heated, this warms the surfaces of the walls so that water vapour in the air does not condense onto them. This is turn allows more time for the ventilation to remove the damp air from the property.

Exactly :T

TriggerCut92

Deleted_User wrote: »

You're welcome. Trickle vents are both good and bad in my opinion. Good for bathrooms, ensuites, kitchens etc and should always be left open. Bad, for some, in say living rooms / bedrooms if there's a noticeable noise increase from having them. Then you start looking into filling them up which defeats their purpose. Maybe consider this when considering new windows / trickle vents. Of course if the property is in the countryside then who wouldn't want a bit of nature as a nice background noise, it's just if you're in the city centre next to an underpass say, then it may be more problematic.

My girlfriend has double glazing at her place and I always wonder why I can hear everything. Makes much more sense now haha. Cheers

Doozergirl

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

They're good enough I suppose. Could probably do with an upgrade but they do the job. Although you need to switch the extractor fan on separately in the bathroom and when I asked her if she'd been doing that I got the feeling she hadn't really.

The windows are soaking too to be honest, it's just everywhere is fairly damp. Yeah maybe new windows would be a good idea, those ones you can open halfway at the top would help

And a new fan that senses humidity and runs automatically. Preferably one that isn't too loud as to be annoying.

Also, I can see cold spots of what might be damp, but could just be condensation on the plasterboard dabs. There's clearly thermal bridging going on and no insulation on the walls - they are cold. Opening the windows, which are single glazed anyway, will just reduce the temperature of the room further as we go into autumn and winter.

I think outside should also be checked for potential causes of damp. I'm not sure if it's a shadow, but the corner appears much darker. Some photos of the whole room would be a but more useful that individual walls with no features. Take some photos inside and out.

It's heating that the room needs. Good, pumping heat to counteract the lack of insulation. Internal insulation would be the best thing for the long term, though.

Is there an open fireplace in the room? Was there?

I'm not sure how you can own a house and not know if it's listed. I'm going to guess that it isn't, but suggest you do a bit of homework as being listed, or in a conservation area, will heavily affect your choice of windows.

Doozergirl

As I typed out that reply, I had a bit of a flashback to a landlord with a Victorian property with magnolia walls and terrible black mould.

Tell me, what did you do the last time this happened? Because the paintwork looks a little better than it did. Presumably the last tenants moved out and you redecorated.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5581731/dampness-issues

Fire_Fox

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

They're good enough I suppose. Could probably do with an upgrade but they do the job. Although you need to switch the extractor fan on separately in the bathroom and when I asked her if she'd been doing that I got the feeling she hadn't really.

The windows are soaking too to be honest, it's just everywhere is fairly damp. Yeah maybe new windows would be a good idea, those ones you can open halfway at the top would help

Given both the windows and the walls are very wet at this time of year, and your previous thread ....The existing extractor fans do not seem to be doing that great a job!

You might consider having a qualified domestic ventilation installer in to look at and test the existing extractors and ductwork. As already suggested, fans that switch on automatically would sidestep user failure.

Cyclamen

For us it was a process of elimination an dfrustration.. we have been wiping mould from the corners of living room for years..

We have had mold in the corner and along the ceiling in our living room since i moved in.
We have cleaned it off and repainted
We have changed the patio doors (needed to for disabled threshold anyway).. these are mostly left open with conservatory windows on secure catches.
We have open trickle vents everywhere (unless fireworks night or storm)
We changed bathroom extractor - (solved bathroom ceiling problem)
we fitted a kitchen extractor
we run a dehumidifier in winter when wet coats/wheelchairs come in

I had roofers out incase the roof fabric had stopped being waterproof under tiles.. they told me it was ok.. we had a new neighbour just after christmas who happens to be a carpenter.. i asked him if he had a roofer friend.. in the end he took up the bottom meter of tiles, put down new roof fabric and put the tiles back..... so far problem solved.

I also keep my furniture an inch from the wall so air can move round and keep corners dry.

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I think some investigating is needed and perhaps a few things adapted