Very cold room - condensation help

bmthmark

In my bungalow I have one room (a bedroom) that seems to be a lot colder than any other room in the house. We also have a mould/damp/condensation issue in this room. The room is the only room in the property that has 3 externally facing walls (probably why its the coldest).
The building is a 1930 bungalow with really high ceilings. It has wooden floor boards with carpet over the top. The building is raised slightly and we have ground level air vents.

I'm trying to resolve the mold issue and if possible if anyone has any advice it would be greatly received.

I have checked all the guttering/walls etc and can see no sign of any leaks etc. So I believe I get the issue because the room is always so cold and when I attempt to heat it, the cold always wins. Therefore I get condensation issues.

One thing I have noticed is I get an awful draft from under the carpet. I pulled the floor boards up and had a look underneath and its like a wind tunnel under there. I reckon the coldness must come from the vents and go under the floors.
I have carpet underlay, but is there anything else I can do? the floor is always so cold.

I'm also going to add more insulation in the loft above the room.

I have a big radiator in there with double glazing but as soon as the heating goes off the room gets cold again (almost instantly).

My thoughts are, if I can improve the heating/insulation this would improve the condensation.

The property does not have cavity wall insulation.

Thank you

Mutton_Geoff

bmthmark wrote: »

I have a big radiator in there with double glazing but as soon as the heating goes off the room gets cold again (almost instantly)

How well insulated is your loft?

bmthmark

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

How well insulated is your loft?

I thought it was good, so I boarded over it and now use it as a storage area.
I'm starting to think its not as good as I thought. At the weekend i'm going to pull up the boards and put some more in there.
Do you know if I could put too much in there? the reason for me asking this is I was thinking about putting it over the top of the existing, but don't want to cause other issues.

Thank you

esuhl

My house always seemed damp in winter. I bought a dehumidifier, and it's been fantastic. I'd assumed there must've been some kind of underlying problem that made the house damp, but it seems to have just been from showering and washing clothes (and breathing, of course!).


Desiccant humidifiers warm the air slightly, too. And less humid air has a lower heat capacity, so costs less to keep warm.

Mistral001

If there is a fitted carpet, then that is probably preventing the room getting any benefit from the ventilation provided under vthe floor. It is totally normal for the void under the floor to be well ventilated. If it not ventilated, the floor timbers will rot.

Thus I would consider more room ventilation. I put a vent in an unused room in my house and cured the condensation problem that had dogged that room for decades at one stroke. The vent is at high level in the opposite wall to the door so that air can flow under the door and through the whole room.

Mutton_Geoff

bmthmark wrote: »

I thought it was good, so I boarded over it and now use it as a storage area.
I'm starting to think its not as good as I thought. At the weekend i'm going to pull up the boards and put some more in there.
Do you know if I could put too much in there? the reason for me asking this is I was thinking about putting it over the top of the existing, but don't want to cause other issues.

Thank you

Current "standard" is 300mm. It's quite normal/acceptable to lay top up insulation over old insulation. You normally do it at 90 degrees to the existing stuff. Bear in mind this will hide your joists, so more care is needed moving about the loft.


Wickes etc sell 200mm thick insulation as a "top up" over the original stuff that was 100mm (ie sitting inbetween 4" x 2" joists).



If you have compressed insulation by boarding over, then you will worsen the insulating properties as it's actually the air in the insulation that acts as the insulator, not the material itself.


Don't forget to leave gaps around the eaves vents so the loft remains ventilated.

FreeBear

bmthmark wrote: »

One thing I have noticed is I get an awful draft from under the carpet. I pulled the floor boards up and had a look underneath and its like a wind tunnel under there.

I would have expected tongue & groove floorboards in a 1930s building - It was the sort of thing being mandated in what went for building regulations at the time (although there were huge differences in standards across the country).

Also suffered from draughts coming up through the floorboards here - The worst area was where a board had been butchered in order to install a gas pipe... My fix was to get several rolls of baking foil (extra wide rolls for the Xmas roast). Cover the floor, wall to wall with a generous overlap. Then lay 5mm wood fibre boards (sold as laminate underlay) across the entire floor. Use carpet grippers around the periphery to hold everything down, then fit a good quality foam underlay. Finish off with a decent carpet, and no more draughts.

With the carpet up, it is worth going round the room and squirting a very thin (and I do mean very thin) bead of expanding foam in to any gap between floorboards and skirting - It is surprising how much wind comes through a small gap.

If you go this route, the bottom of the doors will probably need trimming.

bmthmark

esuhl wrote: »

My house always seemed damp in winter. I bought a dehumidifier, and it's been fantastic. I'd assumed there must've been some kind of underlying problem that made the house damp, but it seems to have just been from showering and washing clothes (and breathing, of course!).


Desiccant humidifiers warm the air slightly, too. And less humid air has a lower heat capacity, so costs less to keep warm.

Thanks - I have also got a dehumidifier. I've had it running since yesterday. Hopefully this will help

bmthmark

esuhl wrote: »

My house always seemed damp in winter. I bought a dehumidifier, and it's been fantastic. I'd assumed there must've been some kind of underlying problem that made the house damp, but it seems to have just been from showering and washing clothes (and breathing, of course!).


Desiccant humidifiers warm the air slightly, too. And less humid air has a lower heat capacity, so costs less to keep warm.

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Current "standard" is 300mm. It's quite normal/acceptable to lay top up insulation over old insulation. You normally do it at 90 degrees to the existing stuff. Bear in mind this will hide your joists, so more care is needed moving about the loft.


Wickes etc sell 200mm thick insulation as a "top up" over the original stuff that was 100mm (ie sitting inbetween 4" x 2" joists).



If you have compressed insulation by boarding over, then you will worsen the insulating properties as it's actually the air in the insulation that acts as the insulator, not the material itself.


Don't forget to leave gaps around the eaves vents so the loft remains ventilated.

Thanks for this advice, much appreciated.
I reckon that I either have too little insulation or the boards are compressing the insulation (i really didn't know this would have a negative affect). At the weekend I am going to have a good look. I may have to raise the boards slightly, if the insulation is being compressed.

bmthmark

FreeBear wrote: »

I would have expected tongue & groove floorboards in a 1930s building - It was the sort of thing being mandated in what went for building regulations at the time (although there were huge differences in standards across the country).

Also suffered from draughts coming up through the floorboards here - The worst area was where a board had been butchered in order to install a gas pipe... My fix was to get several rolls of baking foil (extra wide rolls for the Xmas roast). Cover the floor, wall to wall with a generous overlap. Then lay 5mm wood fibre boards (sold as laminate underlay) across the entire floor. Use carpet grippers around the periphery to hold everything down, then fit a good quality foam underlay. Finish off with a decent carpet, and no more draughts.

With the carpet up, it is worth going round the room and squirting a very thin (and I do mean very thin) bead of expanding foam in to any gap between floorboards and skirting - It is surprising how much wind comes through a small gap.

If you go this route, the bottom of the doors will probably need trimming.

Thank you very much for this info.
I think that is exactly what I need to do, i need to lay the wood fibre boards. I will also lay the foil down and also try to fill the gaps.

I have a busy weekend ahead

coffeehound

FreeBear wrote: »

Then lay 5mm wood fibre boards (sold as laminate underlay) across the entire floor.

Can I ask how you fix the fibre boards pls?