Damp in bathroom?

Hi there,

A mate of mine is having a few issues, he has provided me with the following info:

The bathrooms in an uninsulated extension and the walls are freezing cold and dripping with condensation despite the window being left open during and after showering and at regular times through the day and with the heating on. Mould is forming on the walls and it's incredibly humid It's a rental property so can't do anything permanent and being a broke student I can't afford anything pricey, no space to put a dehumidifier on the landing outside even if I could afford one....

Any help is appreciated.

Reply to
VAG_dude
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This works quite well, although it's become rather expensive:

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bathroom shouldn't cost too much to do.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

----- Original Message ----- From: "Cicero" Newsgroups: uk.d-i-y Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 10:02 PM Subject: Re: Damp in bathroom?

If the extension is uninsulated it will take more than a mm or two of polystyrene to sort out the condensation.

Tim W

Reply to
Tim W

An extract fan with humidistat would help a lot

Reply to
Peter Taylor

Rental property + broke student = wait until next summer to use shower or move to a better property.

Seriously, serious money (the landlord's serious money) would be needed to sort this out. If complaining to the landlord or local council (Environmental Health) doesn't elicit a positive response then your mate is stuffed.

Reply to
Richard Head

Start with prevention. Check around all the pipes, see if there's a leak somewhere. A leak can drip into the concrete slab unnoticed, which is then evaporating water all day & night, causing damp. Make sure shower curtains are properly closed in use to avoid water getting on floor etc

Then its on to damp sorting measures, all of which cost money. The cheapest ones would be anti-mould paint (copper compound or crushed aspirin in emulsion) then polystyrene veneer lining the place. Anything more is likely beyond what you'd be wililng to spend.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

You would be surprised.

a few mm of styrene or cork makes a HUGE difference to e.g. a 9" solid brick wall.

Instead of condensation on the walls, it just pours off the windows instead. :-)

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

A few mm of styrene allows one to walk around with a coffee cup of liquid N2 in hand - been there :)

Reply to
Tim Watts

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There's never going to be a complete quick fix for the situation described by the OP but the condensation on the walls (and the mould growth) can be reduced considerably by the use of polystyrene veneer and that's better than doing nothing. The best that can be expected is improved comfort level and of course a reduced risk from the mould growth which is probably more dangerous than the condensation itself.

In fact the easiest thing to do would be to live with the situation which is quite likely to be seasonal rather than permanent, using just a basic pedestal fan to shift the humid air out through the window when necessary.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

Sounds like a regular cleaning habit is required.

First, minimise steam by not running the hot taps on their own - so many people seem to like emptying the hot tank first and then wading through clouds of steam to turn on the cold and cool it down again.

Then make youself a handy bleach sprayer from one of the numerous cleaner spray bottles we accumulate. Dilute it so it is not too thick to spray. Label the bottle with a magic marker.

Spray this over the walls after every shower or bath and squeegee them down. Once you develop the habit, this is not much more effort than cleaning the bath, which you should be doing after each use anyway.

S
Reply to
Spamlet

Que?

Reply to
Tim Watts

Yes, doesn't everybody just let the rind build up to sufficient thickness such that they can simply peel it off as one single bath-shaped piece? ;-)

Reply to
Jules Richardson

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