Damp and mould in our home

LunaD

Our house is a detached four bed built in 1966. Ever since we’ve been here we’ve had issues every winter with mould and damp areas on the bedroom walls. 

Recently it’s started again like it does every autumn and winter. The outer walls are where we seem to get it. So the outer walls in the bedrooms will feel very cold and there will be a row of black along the outer ceiling where it meets the top of the wall. Also my daughter gets it in one corner of her bedroom where the outer walls are, down the side of her bed and behind a wardrobe which are against the outside walls.

We get it on the bathroom ceiling and to be honest it’s in every room on the outer walls upstairs. Downstairs seems to be okay other than the kitchen ceiling and recently our dining room walls get very wet at night after we’ve cooked at night. The dining room walls will feel wet to touch and then black is growing on the coving and around the patio doors. We keep windows open, kids on pans etc

We have a large dehumidifier which we use downstairs and we are going to get one for upstairs on the landing.

I have started putting the heating on a couple of times a day because I guess the house being cold won’t help so I’m having to spend money on heating more than I normally would because I don’t want the rooms to get worse. With the price of gas I’ve only just started putting it on which I bet hasn’t helped.

We had our attic and walls insulated about 10 years ago so the house is heavily insulated but yet we still get this issue on our outer walls upstairs. Our guttering is fine and our roof seems ok. It seems to be condensation because the windows are wet in the autumn/winter every morning  and then the black grows around the window. Would a window vac be a good investment? I wipe them down every morning with a towel and have the dehumidifier on. The black mould grows in the corner on the outer walls and across the ceiling as a thin line all the way across the ceiling against the outer wall. The outer walls like I said I feel cold and in the dining room they feel wet. It seems to be a really bad condensation issue.

My husband is going to clean the walls down in my daughters room tonight  with a mould cleaner. What kind of paint do we need to put on the walls to protect them in the winter? Any advice is appreciated because I feel so guilty as a parent that my teenagers are living in rooms where the walls get damp and mouldy. I grew up in a very damp home as a child covered in mould and my sister ended up with asthma as a result. It really worries me my children having mould in their bedrooms.

twopenny

Do you ventilate the bedrooms by opening windows at night?
Or during the day?
Moisture at night is from your breath over 8hrs condensing on spots that are the coldest.
You should also leave the bed unmade for an hour or so to let the bedding dry out from normal body moisture.

Or is everything tightly closed?

theoretica

Do you have a hygrometer to measure and record relative humidity and temperature?  It would be useful information to let you know what you are dealing with, and help measure success of any changes.  It would, for instance, help work out if the air is damper upstairs or just condensing more because the walls are cooler.  And they aren't expensive.

elsien

Window vac is great for getting condensation off windows but that’s not going to help the other issues where the moisture is in the air. 

Do you open windows every day; is there enough ventilation/extraction in the kitchen and bathroom when you’re cooking or running showers? 

I always open the kitchen window a crack when I’m cooking, and the bathroom window (with the door shut) after a bath/shower, and I Chuck my bedroom windows open every morning for half an hour or so. 

coffeehound

Do you have good extractors in the kitchen and bathroom(s)?  That would be worth doing if not.

Preventing condensation is a balance of ventilation and heating.  It sounds like you have too much ventilation and not enough heating.  Having more heating and being more selective with ventilation should help.  Keeping windows closed overnight to keep heat in the house, and then opening windows wide briefly in the morning to change the air might help.

LunaD

twopenny said:

Do you ventilate the bedrooms by opening windows at night?
Or during the day?
Moisture at night is from your breath over 8hrs condensing on spots that are the coldest.
You should also leave the bed unmade for an hour or so to let the bedding dry out from normal body moisture.

Or is everything tightly closed?

At night all the windows are closed. My daughter always tells me off for opening her window in the daytime when she’s at school because she thinks that makes damp worse but I’ve told her we need to ventilate all the rooms and have the windows open or even what we call on the catchh where the windows are  open ajar but they’re still locked in place  but there’s a gap all way round so air can get  through. We do that a lot in every room during the day or have them open fully. 

scottishblondie

We have a bit of a moisture and condensation issue around our windows, but no mould on walls. I use the window vac to take the condensation off of the affected windows in the mornings, and we have several dehumidifiers that are on frequently. 

LunaD

coffeehound said:

Do you have good extractors in the kitchen and bathroom(s)?  That would be worth doing if not.

Preventing condensation is a balance of ventilation and heating.  It sounds like you have too much ventilation and not enough heating.  Having more heating and being more selective with ventilation should help.  Keeping windows closed overnight to keep heat in the house, and then opening windows wide briefly in the morning to change the air might help.

No, we need to get them fitted. We’re having a new bathroom next year so that was in the plan but we do need one in the kitchen. 

We keep windows closed at night and open slightly during the day until the afternoon then they’re closed. I am putting the heating on more now to see if it helps.

LunaD

elsien said:

Window vac is great for getting condensation off windows but that’s not going to help the other issues where the moisture is in the air. 

Do you open windows every day; is there enough ventilation/extraction in the kitchen and bathroom when you’re cooking or running showers? 

I always open the kitchen window a crack when I’m cooking, and the bathroom window (with the door shut) after a bath/shower, and I Chuck my bedroom windows open every morning for half an hour or so. 

Yes I have the windows open during the day and closed at night. Not wide open, just ajar so there’s an escape for moisture.  Window in bathroom always left wide open especially after showers. Kitchen window wide open at night when cooking too. 

LunaD

theoretica said:

Do you have a hygrometer to measure and record relative humidity and temperature?  It would be useful information to let you know what you are dealing with, and help measure success of any changes.  It would, for instance, help work out if the air is damper upstairs or just condensing more because the walls are cooler.  And they aren't expensive.

No I don’t have one of those. Our dehumidifier tells us the humidity % on the electric panel and the temperature ? Not sure if that’s the same thing. 

LunaD

scottishblondie said:

We have a bit of a moisture and condensation issue around our windows, but no mould on walls. I use the window vac to take the condensation off of the affected windows in the mornings, and we have several dehumidifiers that are on frequently. 

I’m going to invest in a second dehumidifier for upstairs definitely.