Damp in cupboard help please!

[gg]

Hi

I have recently 'repaired' a number of cupboard doors (these are ceiling to wall fitted cupboards on an outside wall in my mothers house) - the door catches were broken and the doors never shut properly etc.

However, now the doors are 'fixed' (thus now shut!) my mother has told me that now the clothes in the cupboard have become 'damp and mouldy', as have some boxes (Xmas trimmings) that she stores in the top cupboards..

Having revisited, I realise that by repairing the doors and I effectively created a nice 'cold box' - my mothers house is fairly old (100+ yrs), but she keeps it reasonably warm (although the room does fluxuate from 13-14 when heating off to 20/21 when on)...as the cupboards are on a north facing wall (and are just really wooden frames built onto the wall, no backs etc) - so I guess that now the nice warm air is hitting the very cold walls...and thus condensation/mould is forming?

I put a temp. gauge in the top cupboard, and it was 9 degrees!

Some of the walls (inside cupboard) have a thin (2mm?) coating of polystyrene type material, but where clothes have touched this they are damp and wet to touch in areas (bad air circulation?) - however the TOP cupboards, have no such polystyrene, and here seems the biggest problem, you can see the water forming on the bare plaster

For now, Ive managed to leave the doors open, to let air circulate but was wondering if by purchasing some (possibly thicker?) polystyrene insulator, I could simply 'stick' this to the existing polystyrene (where the is some) and the untreated plastered walls? - its just an inside of a cupboard, so I wont need to replaster etc? - Would I also need to baton on top of the polystyrene and nail some board, or could I leave the polystyrerne as is??

If so, is it an easy job? Do I just basically buy it in a roll/square, cut to size and just glue (presume there is special glue?) - and possibly silicone seal the edges (or tape?)

Also, are there any different thicknesses of insulating polystyrene? - and makes better for the job than others?

OR...am I on the wrong horse, and is there a better way (without taking the cupboards out altogether!!)

PS, the house has no cavity wall insulation (it cant as it has no cavity!) - it has had recent loft insulation, and I have checked for leaks etc...on another note, the neighbouring house had similar problems (this was a cold bedroom, rather than a cold cupboard) - they have to have the whole room insulated..I guess these houses are just plain cold!!

In the winter (until the heating is on) my mothers front bedroom's windows are very condensated (they are UPVC double glazed) - another sign of cold in the room??

Finally, I have lent her my dehumidifer, its humidistat seems to tell me that the room is between 66 & 74% Humid (Ive monitored it over a few days)

Hope someone can help.....Many thanks for reading!

[Phil L]

Youy can get 8ft X4ft polystrene sheets in thicknesses of 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm, these can be fixed in place any way you like, if glue works, use that, if it doesn't, affix small battens to the back timbers overlapping the polystyrene 15mm or so....this will cut down on the cold coming through the wall. To increase air flow, you may need to install vents in each door and/or between cupboards

[Robbo]

Perhaps installing a bathroom type inline vent fan that could be housed in the loft and "piped" to the top of the cupboards with a vent in the base of them to allow better air circulation will help.

[gg]

Thanks, unfortunately my DIY skills (if you can call them that) are very limited. If I can help by glueing or baton'ing styrofoam/polystyrene etc, Ill give that a go - hopefully 'glue' will be my friend and It'll do the trick

I think I will also buy a few vents to vent top/bottom and side cupboards, to see if that helps

Thanks

Robbo wrote:

[gg]

Thanks, unfortunately my DIY skills (if you can call them that) are very limited. If I can help by glueing or baton'ing styrofoam/polystyrene etc, Ill give that a go - hopefully 'glue' will be my friend and It'll do the trick

I think I will also buy a few vents to vent top/bottom and side cupboards, to see if that helps

Thanks

Robbo wrote:

[Steve Walker]

fit a tubular greehouse heater and leave it on 24/7 - eBay item 130057467893 for example.

[Peter Parry]

Replace (or stick on top of) the existing polystyrene some polystyrene ceiling tiles - usually about 5-10mm thick - the thicker the better.

Almost any glue will suffice - double sided carpet tape usually works well.

You should consider replacing the doors with louvre doors - if they are standard sizes this should be quite simple to do. These allow air to circulate freely. You will still need the thicker polystyrene.

You might want to look at ventilation in the most condensation prone rooms - usually the kitchen, bathroom and occupied bedrooms. Putting a low power ventilator (Wickes do one with about 20W consumption) and running it for several hours a day is usually simpler and better than putting in a big one running for a short time.

If the kitchen is used and doesn't have a cooker hood venting to outside consider fitting one. Any tumble drier must vent to outside and if clothes are dried on radiators then proper extraction of air becomes even more important.

Dehumidifiers are good but need to run for quite a long time to be effective.

[gg]

Hi, thanks for replies

I think I will 'polystyrene' (thicker!) the walls, and also ventilate between top/bottom cupboards, hopefully this will help. I may have to make a hole in the skirting (this forms the base of the cupboards) to try and getter better air circulation

My mother DOES vent tumble drier outside, but doesnt have any extraction (other than opening the window) in the kitchen OR bathroom - and the bathroom is very close to the main bedroom...

Would it be wise to ask for quotes for someone to install and 'power up' 2 x extractor units (1 x bathroom, 1 x kitchen) - would I seek quotes from builders, or electricians for this kind of work?? - I suppose the (thick!) walls will have to have holes made in then, the extractor fitted, and then somehow the electric (lights?) cabling used?

Are there any does and donts on extractors (ie makes to avoid or best sizes) - and is it best to have them to come on with the lights, or on a separate switch?

Sorry for questions!

Thanks again

Peter Parry wrote:

[Peter Parry]

Electricians tend to favour the expensive higher powered fans with time switches linked to light circuits. These are not really ideal as firstly they are very noisy - and if someone goes to the loo in the night everyone gets to hear about it for about 15 minutes. Secondly they are not very effective in the situation you have.

A much better approach is to use the low power 20-30W fans fitted with time switches so they come on for several hours a day to match the use of the kitchen etc. They make very little noise and are usually very easy to fit requiring quite a small hole (about 3 inches diameter) in the walls which is easily done with a core drill. If you don't feel able to do it yourself make sure you find an electrician with enough nouse to do what you want rather than what is cheapest and most profitable for them.