Very cold room - condensation help

RelievedSheff

bmthmark wrote: »

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.

Yes you don't want to compress the insulation.

300mm is the current minimum standard.

Our new build had the loft insulation doubled up to 600mm!

We have decided that storing anything in the loft is a no go as it will squash the insulation too much.

FreeBear

coffeehound wrote: »

Can I ask how you fix the fibre boards pls?

Just laid on the floor. The weight of underlay & carpet is enough to stop them from moving, and the ones around the edge of the room have the screws holding gripper rods down to secure them.

peter12345678910

Surprised how the quality of underlay varies, is it a thin cardboard like underlay.?

ANDY597

Just a thought but wickes do very affordable loft floors stilts. Raises floor enough for the extra insulation.

Hope this helps

bmthmark

Thanks for every ones help. I went out last night and bought loads of new insulation for the loft and also bought some loft floor stilts. I'm going to get the boards up and lay the new insulation down. Then use the floor stilts to raise the boards (no compression).
I also bought a load of the 5mm wood fibre boards, I will get this under the carpet underlay and at the same time fill any gaps.
Hopefully this will improve the heat in the room.

Fun jobs a head

annieb1981

Interested to know how you get on with this. We too live in a bungalow, 1960's roughly. We have a room with 2 outside walls and suspended wood flooring that has mould that grows on the MDF skirting. I hear MDF like a sponge too when it comes to any moisture, but lately I have seen a crystalised residue starting in the far corner of the actual wall, so I am assuming this is as a result of condensation. However, go back to 2 years ago, this room was one large open room with 3 outside walls and there was never a problem with damp or mould. We had laminate flooring at the time whereas now we have good underly and carpet. I am wondering because now we have made the space smaller and added carpet could we have disturbed the ventilation. It is so bizarre because as soon as you walk into the room it is such a sudden drop in temperature compared to anywhere else in the house. I have booked for someone to come give us a price for cavity wall insulation next week and we had new insulation laid in the roof space 4 years ago when we had bought the house, so I think it is ok in the dept. We are thinking that in the spring we will lift the floor boards and examine underneath to make sure there is no leak or anything under there and possibly insulated under the new boards. But again, will this do more harm than good with regards to ventilation! Window is either open or on the snib all day and doors always open. There are some trees by the coldest wall which we are debating cutting down to help let the sun reach this area. Will try anything I suppose!

bmthmark

annieb1981 wrote: »

Interested to know how you get on with this. We too live in a bungalow, 1960's roughly. We have a room with 2 outside walls and suspended wood flooring that has mould that grows on the MDF skirting. I hear MDF like a sponge too when it comes to any moisture, but lately I have seen a crystalised residue starting in the far corner of the actual wall, so I am assuming this is as a result of condensation. However, go back to 2 years ago, this room was one large open room with 3 outside walls and there was never a problem with damp or mould. We had laminate flooring at the time whereas now we have good underly and carpet. I am wondering because now we have made the space smaller and added carpet could we have disturbed the ventilation. It is so bizarre because as soon as you walk into the room it is such a sudden drop in temperature compared to anywhere else in the house. I have booked for someone to come give us a price for cavity wall insulation next week and we had new insulation laid in the roof space 4 years ago when we had bought the house, so I think it is ok in the dept. We are thinking that in the spring we will lift the floor boards and examine underneath to make sure there is no leak or anything under there and possibly insulated under the new boards. But again, will this do more harm than good with regards to ventilation! Window is either open or on the snib all day and doors always open. There are some trees by the coldest wall which we are debating cutting down to help let the sun reach this area. Will try anything I suppose!

Hi annieb1981

Your room sounds very similar to my cold room, you can feel the drop in temperature as you walk from one room in to this room.

So this weekend I was very very busy, I went up in the loft and raised all the boards (using loft stilts) and lay a new layer of insulation down. This time I made sure it was not compressed.
I also pulled up the underlay and carpet. I used masking tape to go over every gap between the floor boards and lay 5mm wood fibre boards on top, I stapled these down to the boards. I also went round the skirting boards and filled any gaps.
I finally lay the underlay back down and then the carpet on top.
This was all finished yesterday.

I went in the room this morning and the room was pretty much the same temperature as the rest of the bungalow. I know it hasn't been long but it seems to definitely keep the heat in.
I touched the walls and they were completely dry, last week the walls were a bit wet due to condensation.

I know its early days but i'm really hoping this has helped the problem.

Thank you everyone for your advice/help.

Mark

Phil4432

The room needs to be heated to at least 14C to avoid condensation. It should be vented for half an hour to an hour per day(along with the whole house)

I use an Ebac dehumidifier with good results.

annieb1981

bmthmark wrote: »

Hi annieb1981

I went in the room this morning and the room was pretty much the same temperature as the rest of the bungalow. I know it hasn't been long but it seems to definitely keep the heat in.
I touched the walls and they were completely dry, last week the walls were a bit wet due to condensation.

I know its early days but i'm really hoping this has helped the problem.

Thank you everyone for your advice/help.

Mark

I hope this sorts it for you!
We had someone come round to check if there was cavity wall insulation, apparently there is so we know the problem isn't there. There are loads of gaps in our floor boards and I have read that even with underlay and carpet the cold can still get through. We just had new carpet, underlay and skirtingin that room about a year ago, but we definitely need to take it all up again and see whats going on underneath! The skirting has gone mouldy anyway so it will have to go.

FreeBear

annieb1981 wrote: »

The skirting has gone mouldy anyway so it will have to go.

Woodwork should not go mouldy - Is it solid wood or MDF ?

Starting work on a cold room that has some damp issues here. Cut up some MDF that had been against one wall - That had a bit of white mould on it, yet the solid timber skirting boards & trim are all fine.