Dry Lining

[Gunther Gloop]

Our house is a dormer bungalow -yes, they are crap in a lot of ways, but our top-class Irish planning laws, in their infinite wisdom, forbid 2-storey dwellings in many non-city areas... but that's not _strictly_ my current problem (or maybe it is)...

My problem is this: The whole house is dry-lined. This can make things a bit cosier, but unfortunately I believe it is the main reason why myself and 2 children get sore throats at various times during the year (my wife seems immune to it mostly, for some reason).

I have no idea who to contact to see if something can be done -or even _if_ this is the cause. I don't want to call in an "insulation expert" who recommends lots of work that costs a fortune and ends up making no difference.

Also though (while I'm at it), mostly the house isn't _too_ hot or _too_ cold (unlike a lot of dormers I've come across), but there is one room upstairs that is particularly terrible to keep warm in winter or cool in Summer. ...Seems to me like this room is lacking insulation that was installed elsewhere... my daughter who stays in this room does get a lot of sore throats and coughs -not always related to heat or cold though.

Does anyone have any "magic solutions/suggestions" or had similar experiences, etc.?

Moving is not really on the cards I'm afraid.

-Kevin.

[normanwisdom]

Sore throats etc are infections ASFAIK. Don't see how they could be related to dry lining in any way. More to do with general health issues. Lack of fresh air and exercise, poor diet? If you actually get cold then try more underwear, extra bedding or turn the heating up. Yes more insulation will make the upstairs room and the rest of the house warmer. There's a family near us who are strict vegetarian and their kids all look pale, un-healthy and have endless colds. Pretty obviously something missing from their diet. Funny diets for adults can be very bad for kids.

cheers Jacob

[Gunther Gloop]

Thanks Norman, but you're barking up the wrong tree there. Forget it anyway -I'm looking into humidifiers.

-Kevin.

[Phil Anthropist]

I don't know of any link between plasterboard and colds. Your children could be getting colds from others at school. You could be catching colds from your children, or if you work indoors with other people then you could be catching colds from them. The dormer bedroom is in effect a loft bedroom. These by the nature of their construction tend to be less well insulated, and therefore hotter in summer and colder in winter than ground floor rooms, although I am not aware of any link between that and colds.

[Gunther Gloop]

[normanwisdom]

Are you looking at humidifiers or de-humidifiers, and why? Neither have anything to do with colds AFAIK. Nothing in the physical environment causes colds - it's a virus.

cheers Jacob

[Gunther Gloop]

I never said anything about colds, but please -remove it from your mind.

-Kevin.

[Grunff]

Seriously Gunther, you're not making any sense. Norman made some perfectly valid points, and you're being totally dismissive of those points. One wonders why you posted in the first place.

What exactly do you believe the plasterboard is doing to cause your sore throats, and in what way do you think a humidifier will help?

[normanwisdom]

Looks like total bollocks to me. Don't believe a word of it. The de-humidifier sellers having been making a bomb selling more or less useless kit and now they're having a go with "humidifiers" to see if they can take even more money from the gullible! It's a new one the "humidifier". Wouldn't a watering can do the job (whatever it is!). I reckon you need more fresh air and exercise, perhaps a better diet, and stop smoking. Leave the windows open, Get some bicycles. Come on pull yourself together!

cheers Jacob

[Grunff]

Ah, you're of the IMM school of thought - if it's in a brochure, it must be correct.

I'd love to know, how are the dry lining and the low relative humidity connected?

[Stuart]

But you did mention sore throats and coughs .

[normanwisdom]

Colds, sore throats, coughs, same thing - virus.

[gort]

One or two posters have questioned why you think the dry lining is to blame, care to enlighten us as to exactly why you think this ?.

Dave

[Piers Finlayson]

"Because just like people, the air becomes thirsty too. The art lies in giving the air just enough water to drink..."

And people actually take this seriously?!

[Andrew Gabriel]

Things in the physical environment can effect your susceptability to colds. I rarely get colds, but I can put just about all colds I do get down to some incident when I got physically cold, e.g. if I got caught outdoors in the cold for a period with inappropriate clothing for the outdoor temperature.

20 years ago when it was still common for a number of people to not have central heating, we did a quick survey around the office at work. There was a very clear correlation with people who had central heating also being the same people who got colds. I can only speculate why, but my guess would be that central heating can fool you into wearing inappropriate clothing for the season, and you can then get caught out being cold when you venture out of the micro climate in your home. Indeed, the classic time to get a cold coincided with the first couple of cold weeks marking the beginning of winter.

Before central heating, I probably got a cold about every 3 years. Now, I probably get just under 1 cold a year. I am aware that I manage to avoid several colds a year too, which I suspect many people would pick up in the same cirumstances without taking appropriate avoiding action. I can generally sit next to someone at work who has a streaming cold, and be pretty certain that if I'm careful, I won't get it, even though many others in the office will.

[normanwisdom]

It is serious - "Boneco 2055 Filterless Humdifier & Air Purifier No ongoing expense of buying filters Humidifies, cleans and ionises the air Price: =A3255.00 exVAT" Boneco for boneheads! Er, similar effect obtained by leaving an uncovered bucket of water in the room - at zero cost. If you need it that is, but you don't, which is even better!

cheers Jacob

[Gunther Gloop]

Alright... responding to nobody in particular... The problem I described almost certainly revolves around the dryness in the atmosphere of the house (which causes dry throats, which leads to soreness). Living in this house, as I do, I think I know it better than any of you. Likewise, I am more aware of the exercise and fresh-air levels of everyone in this house than anyone else here.

I don't "believe" what I read in brochures -and no I am not going to rush out and buy "a humidifier" just because that site said so, but it is clear to me that there a problem with the insulation here (perhaps contradictory problems in various rooms). I am going to try placing a dish of water in the room that gives the biggest 'dry air' problem and see how that goes... true, it _could_ turn out to be ineffective, but I'd rather see that for myself. Also true -it could lead to condensation problems, but I'll sort that before it becomes an issue. For now, I just want to get to the bottom of an ongoing problem.

I posted in this DIY newsgroup to get some ideas in that field. I didn't post here for a civics lesson or a critique of someone's imaginary idea of my family's lifestyle.

Thank you all,

-Kevin.

[Andrew Gabriel]

My only thought was if they were breathing in fibre glass dust which was somehow getting into the room from behind the platserboard?

[normanwisdom]

Virus nevertheless. I was wrong, environment does have an indirect effect - sharing badly ventilated space with many people helps virus spread. Central heating plus double glazing plus draughtproofing can be bad news.

cheers Jacob

[Gunther Gloop]

That is/was also a concern of mine.

-Kevin.