My condensations come back

[sweetheart]

Me again with my condensation.

Don't tell me its lifestyle as I have been ill and no washing, cooking or anything has been done this last week.

I have wall insulation and roof insulation and double glazing and - well you name it. The condensation isn't as bad as it was but its still there - on the back ( external ) wall in the kitchen.

Today it was dripping.

I put the dehumidifier on.

One thing I have noticed. In the rest of the room, the thermometer reads around 16 degrees, by this wall it reads 9 degrees.

So what might be my best bet here? Should I invest in heating? This is the kitchen and there is no heating in there. Or should I put a car port/ garage on the outside . I ask the latter because a neighbour has just put a conservatory across her kitchen external wall because she said it was wet and she couldn't dry it. That was her builders suggestion.

Idea on this topic please. I just want to get rid of this condensation.

[The Natural Philosopher]

then yu dont have insulation on that wall do you?

Quick anwser: stick cork tiles over it.

worked for me, once.

[Bob Minchin]

It is not surprising that it has restarted as the outside temperature has dropped significantly in the last few days. Cooler air can hold less water vapour and it will condense.

Well if you have not been putting water into the atmosphere by not cooking/washing etc it is coming from somewhere. Maybe you have damp comoing up through the floor. Are the floors boarded and do you have airbricks round the outside of the house and are they all clear?

Might you have any leaks from pipes under the floor?

The wall with a much lower temperature suggests there might not be any insulation in that section?

[Mr Pounder]

[spuorgelgoog]

But you're still breathing.

A human exhales about half a litre a day of water vapour. That will migrate through the house to the coldest point (kitchen) and if the kitchen wall is below the dew point it will condense.

Insulate, ventilate and heat.

Running the dehumidifier in the bedroom overnight may be an alternative.

Owain

[ARW]

There is very little chance of finding a damp patch in the bedroom.

[sweetheart]

Yes and yes. The floor is not damp. The wood is good, sound and dry as a bone.

There are no pipes under this floor, water comes in round the back near the opposite wall.

Well I had it done in the summer under the scheme for condensation. Don't get me wrong, its a lot better than it was.This room used to be freezing.

I have been reading an Australian site where they suggest cutting back all shrubbery. I have a native hedge about four foot away from this area. $ft is the max extent of ground outside at this point as the land boundary dog legs. That's why I wondered if I should remove the shed ( keep recycling bags in there) and put up a car port affair to shut in the area.

[sweetheart]

Yes, but not in this room. I have been in bed with influenza and a bad chest infection all week.

So putting a heater in here might work? I have heating on throughout the rest of the house ( my chest was so bad I needed the warmth on).

[sweetheart]

Would that insulation stuff on a roll do the same thing? )like plystyrene which is rolled and is applied like you would paper.

I had thought about putting that on the wall across the back section. I know that wall has always been very cold -more than anywhere else in the house. Its the north/north easterly. Its open across the side and the wind will blow through. It rarely gets any sun.

[polygonum]

Posting a picture might really help - of the layout, of the damp area, anything. Even a simple drawing. There are plenty of drawing facilities on-line.

(Of course, don't post a picture to the group. Post it somewhere else and put a link here.)

[stuart noble]

Cork is tougher. Polystyrene is damaged by the slightest knock

[fred]

Ventilation or heat are your only answers. A de-humidifier will act as a he ater. We keep a cabin cruiser afloat on its moorings throughout the winter. A de-hmidifier is installed and set to run from 0800hrs to 1700hrs. (The c ondensate is piped to the shower overflow tray where the bilge pump evacuat es it) This keeps the boat extremely dry.

As it is the kitchen, and assuming your cook in it, then ventiliation is al so going to be necessary. Perhaps open a window while cooking. In this case I would run the dehumidifier overnight. Watch it, they can be hard on the electric.

[Brian Gaff]

Well as long as we keep breathing and a surface is colder than the rest of the space is, water will condense onto that given the right temp difference. Thus anything you can do to warm up the offending wall is going to be a good thing. Trouble is then the next coldest area will get it of course, but not as much as presumably its a little better insulated than the current wall is. Brian

[Jim K]

No cooking for a week whilst in poorly bed eh? What have you been living on then? What have you been eating it off? How did you get the hot water to make the lemsips?

Smells a bit trolly again doesn't it?

Jim K

[Brian Gaff]

I wonder if this wall is prone to more airflow than other walls? It could be that its just wind chill on that particular wall. As you say, any extra insulation is going to be good. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Well, if you can find something external you can put on with another isolative layer, it might be less of a problem as the mass of that walls bricks ewill then be able to be warmed up and act like a bit of a storage of heat, not a loser of it. Might look a bit odd from the outside though! What about some form of wind break or something? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

If the wall has a cavity and its got insulation in it, Its rather odd that this is going on. Here we have no cavity, and the expected result happened. I got a porch built over the offending bit of the wall and its gone away. No the condensation,not the wall!

Brian

[spuorgelgoog]

[e-mail] wrote

I suspect you're being crude again.

Owain

[sweetheart]

Just an update on this. My Oh seems to have found the problem , although I have yet to be 100% sure.

There is a small window in this wall .It is a pantry window. One of those which has wire netting across the outside and a glass window ( in steel frame) on the inside. The corner of the kitchen was a pantry until last Christmas ( and yes it was always cold and full of condensation then).

I upgraded the other windows but left this one as it was odd - and odd size too. Its always full of condensation and dripping wet. OH has now blocked it in with some polystyrene ( thick piece) and hey presto, today the walls are not running water. The thermometer shows its now the same as the rest of the room.

So, could this little ( well 22 x27 ins) window really be the problem?

[RJH]

Quite possibly. Sounds as though it was a large vent, not a small window.