Penetrating damp in leasehold flat

PawelK

Thanks MEM62. There is a chance it's still condensation as someone mentioned earlier that even after changing your lifestyle to avoid all the most common mistakes making condensation worse, it could never be eliminated due to the way flats are built etc. I don't think you can clearly see from outside any water on the walls, so perhaps yet another argument for the problem to be condensation. Of that's the case, I have literally ran out of ideas what else can be done. The only thing left would be to completely I dilate the walls, sacrificing some floor area and o would still be uncertain of this works after spending lot of money for it.

cattie

Have you tried using a dehumidifier to see if this helps stop the damp? If this solves your problem then it will be a cheap way to fix things. I think this is what I'd be doing first before embarking on a more costly method.

PawelK

cattie said:

Have you tried using a dehumidifier to see if this helps stop the damp? If this solves your problem then it will be a cheap way to fix things. I think this is what I'd be doing first before embarking on a more costly method.

Unfortunately we did and to no avail. The only to really see if it helps is to probably run it 24/7 365 days but then I may as well start putting half of my salary aside for the bills. 😂

NameUnavailable

You need to speak to the management company about this. As a leaseholder you have no right to work on the outside walls (assuming there's no quirky terms in your particular lease). The management company should have the necessary work carried out and the cost will be shared (again depending on the terms in your lease).

If you're not getting any response write directly to the freeholder - they are legally responsible for the upkeep of the building.

Doozergirl

PawelK said:

this is the last area that we haven't cleaned yet but have to move couple of boxes out of the way first.

There was something sat in front of that mould? 

You have a condensation issue.    That also looks like vinyl silk paint, which does no breathing at all.  Much of it would probably peel off it you can get behind it with a wallpaper scraper.   The problem is probably more visible behind the paint.  

You won't solve a condensation problem with lifestyle measures.   You won't cut down your production of humid air by that much and empty houses are equally susceptible.  It's mainly a myth that it is lifestyle or about opening windows.  There has to be an issue with the building fabric in the first place.  

You need a warm house, with warm walls.  You need good *background* ventilation, not excessive occasional ventilation of open windows that cool the walls down further.  Windows with trickle vents, mechanical extraction for cooking, preferably humidity-sensing fans in the bathroom that don't switch off until the humidity drops.  

If you have cold walls then you need to keep belongings away from the outside walls.  Do you have a lot of "stuff"? A bit of insulating wallpaper isn't going to do much if the humidity simply can't escape.  It gets trapped behind large objects where there is no airflow.  Proper insulation might be needed if you have to use those walls, but all the ventilation measures should be in place *first* to save money.  

To clarify, I don't believe that it is penetrating damp at all, from that one photo.