Oue house is damp.

I hadn't used to be damp. I don't know what we have done to create this. Its only happened in the last couple of years.

Having gone through all the possibles it looks like its condensation. But our lifestyle hasn't changed any so I don't know why its suddenly happening. Some mornings the walls are ringing wet, especially on damp days when its cold and raining and we haven't got a lot of heating on.

The kitchen and bathroom are obviously damp places but now its spreading to the bedrooms and dining room.

We have double glazing, central heating and loft insulation etc. We have done everything to make the house energy efficient and stop global warming and my OH turned down the heating a couple of years ago - and it was then we started to get damp and it isn't stopping.

Its now costing an arm and a leg to heat properly to clear the damp.

Its so bad now I can dry clothes and put them in the airing cupboard and they get damp again. If I leave them out to air , even then they get a cold feeling. The beds worse. I put dry sheets and duvet on it and they get damp during the day , so the bed has to be stripped and aired every day and that doesn't do much really either. Its just damp.

I know they say you have to ventilate a house but how can I do this when all the double glazing etc is there to stop that without making the house cold or having to pay out in heating bills to heat the air outside? Whilst opening a window can help it doesnt cure the problem and the house then gets cold. It doesn't help with its raining though.

I just don't know what to do. OH is burying head in sand ( I guess he doesn't know either ) and I am left being constantly ill .

I had pneumonia and suffer with my chest and have scars on my lungs as a result and really do need to be warm without it costing too much and not damp.

Can someone tell me what we can do? I have looked across the internet and they don't have any practical solutions ( tried those crystal things - they pick the water up but need changing every day). I had thought of a dehumidifier but that would cost to keep on all the time too too.

The house is traditional build 1950 ish, rural area, detached, if that helps.

Reply to
whiskeyomega
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Should add we are all electric. No gas to the house and the fireplaces were bricked up when the central heating was put in back in the 1970's ( before we brought it) . Hence its expensive to heat when its so damp. Double glazing went in during the early 1980's ( should we be replacing it?). But as I said, the problem has only started in the last two/ three years.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice.

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Reply to
whiskeyomega

whiskeyomega pretended :

Double glazed, insulated loft, but have you considered cavity wall insulation?

An automatic dehumidifier will make a lot of difference and they are not that expensive to run - much cheaper than heating the place and opening windows to clear the damp and dry air always feels warmer than moist air. Fit lids on pans when cooking, fit an automatic humidity operated fan in the bathroom, fit a cooker hood extracting to the outside and use it when cooking. Don't dry clothes indoors, or at least dry them in a well ventilated area.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

WE have cavity wall insulation too . I have been told to put more insulation in the loft ( new regulations about loft insulation but to be honest, if this is condensation and a lack of bentilation, I dont see how stuffing the house more full of things to stop the air circulation will help. So I want to sort the current problem first. In fact I have been wondering if we have to much insularion?

Fit lids on pans when cooking, fit an automatic humidity

I alread do that. I have never cooked without lids on pans - and I dont do that much cooking anyway. Probably far less than most. I may have the oven on for less than 20 mins an night and the microwave on for ten minutes.

Got them both and I almost permanently have windows open too in bathroom and kitchen.

Don't dry clothes indoors, or at least

I dont dry clothes indoors. I have a washer dryer. I run the tumble dryer only when the waether is so bad I have to ( its a modern one that condenses the steam and sends it down the waste pipe) )

. I only wash once a week. I dry on the line outside when the weather allows. In fact, my washing machine ( facy programmed job) has just packed up because of the damp getting to its computerised board.

Is there anything else I can do? Short of move that is - and how do you sell a damp house?

Reply to
whiskeyomega

Sounds like you've done everything except the 2 things you should do.

First, get a dehumidifier in. This will bring rapid results. Humidistatic is recommended as it wont overdry the woodwork, causing warping or cracking.

Second, look for the water leak it sounds like you've got. It might be extrnal rainwater orinternal plumbing.

Dehumidifiers cost =A3100 or so a year to run if on fairly high. This is far cheaper than opening windows.

NT

Reply to
NT

What is your heating? Do you heat the whole house, or do you not heat some rooms? Do you have trickle vents in the windows? How do you dry clothes? Do you have any extractor fans in bath/shower room? Do you boil food in saucepans, or steam food? Do you have a kitchen extractor?

Exactly where does the condensation form? Windows, external walls, internal walls, external and/or ceilings?

Do you know what type of ground floor you have (solid, suspended, etc)?

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Do they have extractor fans and do you use them?

That is part of the problem. You need to keep the place warmer to prevent the air near cold surfaces getting below the dew point. Along with reducing (as much as practicable) the amount of moisture in the air by ventilation in the key "wet" areas of bathrooms/showers/kitchen.

How much is this "arm and a leg", the annual oil bill here is about =A31600 (assuming 40p/l). You mention all electric. Does that include space heating? If so one assumes you are on a tariff suitable for that use (E7 or E10). Have you checked the tariffs of other suppliers, you could be paying as much as double what you need to. Plenty of websites that will tell you that information.

A 1950's house as built would have had lot's of "natural" ventilation with single glazed unsealed windows and door frames. What you have is the typical problem of sealing up an "old" property with insulation and double glazing.

Do those bricked up chimneys have vents into the room where the fireplaces would have been? Are the tops sealed or ventilated? Does the double glazing have trickle vents in the frames?

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

do you have cavity wall insulation?

If not the outer walls will attract condensation.

Otherwise its really down to ventilation. You and your activities will generate moisture: It has to go somewhere.

Only an influx of colder air that gets heated can absorb it.

The only way to avoid that leading to heat loss as well, is to have heat exchanger ventilation.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Worth checking but I'd expect that to be localised rather than throughout the house. For the latter the air needs to be humid rather than just a bit of the building near a leak.

But really only treat the symptom not effect a cure. The ventilation required on an on going basis isn't great and simple things like always running extractor fans in kitchens/bathrooms etc will make a tremendous difference. Simply venting our cooker hood outside and only running it on 1 (out of 3) effectively stopped the windows (6mm DG) running with water when ever any cooking was done

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

To answer your questions - and I am grateful to all who answer. It really is a problem now because the damp is causing mould to grow and I cant stop it, not matter how much I wipe down and keep it away.

Electric storage radiators - E7. We have little or no choice to be honest. No gas to the area and LPG would be prohibitive in cost and installation and even oil proved expensive and we have to site the tanks.

The other option is to open the fire places but coal would be messy and I have no time to do the fire setting really. I dont know the state of our fireplaces behind the blocking up ( there might be nothing left) so it would cost a lot to put that in to

This is a change. We used to heat the whole house but OH said it was too expensive so now I am only allowed heat in the main living room ( one 3KW sotrage heater - there is a second but he wont allow it on and I am not allowed the dining room one on either.)

I can also have the one in the bedroom on . The bedroom suffers badly with condensation and was causeing me to have a permanent cough, so it has to be warmer.

The hall isnt allowed on and the spare bedroom inst allowed to be on.

He has also turned down the heating a couple of degrees ( like they say on the TV ads!) I have an 3eco warrior OH! ;-(

I dont know what these are so I doubt it.

Tuble dryer no more than once a week or outside.

Yes.

Not often and trying now to do even less. Never steam. Yes to extractor fan

A lot of it is damp walls under the windows . External walls mainly. The spare bedroom has mould in the corner on the ceiling and where the two external walls join the whole wall seems damp but its mostly toward the bottom half of the walls.

Do you know what type of ground floor you have (solid, suspended, etc)?

Its a bungalow. One floor only. Fllors are wodden suspended over a void ( no cellar - not sure how deep the void is. Vents all round the outside though. OH has said void is about three feet deep?

Reply to
whiskeyomega

Our 1930's house is end terrace. The guttering at the far end cuts across and slightly into the brickwork of two chimmney stacks. On several occasions (before we installed an additional downpipe) some rainwater had overflowed the gutter and leaked into the chimney itself.

The damp caused in upstairs rooms was eventually erradicated by the downpipe and dry-lining of that wall, also opening up a previously sealed room vent for the box room.

Reply to
Adrian C

Do they have extractor fans and do you use them?

That is part of the problem. You need to keep the place warmer to prevent the air near cold surfaces getting below the dew point. Along with reducing (as much as practicable) the amount of moisture in the air by ventilation in the key "wet" areas of bathrooms/showers/kitchen.

How much is this "arm and a leg", the annual oil bill here is about £1600 (assuming 40p/l).

Well, no we are not paying £1600 a year. Our bill last year for electric for the whole year came to about £1000. W e are all electric so no other fuel costs.

Our last bill was £158.73 for the quarter. That was running three 1. 5 KW heaters and all other appliances ( fridge , freezer etc.) for the last quarter. I had to put them on because it was cold and I was ill. It was also pretty wet and cold for the summer so I had the heating on more than usual.

I give the electric people £66 a month which is their calculation of what our electric costs to run for the year. According to the bill we are currently in credit £158.60 across the year so far.

But I have the 3KW heater on in the living area now instead ( took the little heater off) . So it will go up for the winter quarter. If they put the direct debit up OH says we will have to take a heater off. I am allowed £1000 a year for heating no more. It used to cost us about £1200 two years ago with all the heating on but then they put the prices up and my OH cut us back on the use of the heating.

I cut back the use of cooker etc myself to stop the condensation.

If it gets chilly we have a halogen heater for the sitting room which we put on 500w to keep warmer.

He kept seeing the TV ads about being well insulated and cutting the bills by turning down the heating and said we could do that. He says we need to put more clothes on instead of heating the air. ( I am sitting here in a coat by the way)

You mention all electric. Does that include space heating? If so one assumes you are on a tariff suitable for that use (E7 or E10). Have you checked the tariffs of other suppliers, you could be paying as much as double what you need to. Plenty of websites that will tell you that information.

I have what qualifies as just about the cheapest supplier for my area. I say just about because the prices keep changing .

Do those bricked up chimneys have vents into the room where the fireplaces would have been?

No. I dont even know if they were taken out and bricked or just sealed over.

Are the tops sealed or ventilated? Does

The chimneys are open . I know that because we thought about putting a coal fire in one of them. We have three fireplaces in the house including one in the kitchen ( once had an aga and boiler there I think)

I dont know what these are so I am guessing no.

Reply to
whiskeyomega

That's how you caused the damp. By taking a house which leaked air and sealing it up where do you think all the moisture you still generate is going to go?

Where do you dry them? Are you using a dryer vented to outside?

Your DG windows should have trickle vents in them - do they?

Air has low mass and is cheap to heat.

There is only one solution and that is to improve ventilation to acceptable levels. You can fit extractor fans to areas such as the kitchen and bathroom or preferably fit whole house ventilation such as described at

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I have looked across the internet and

Dehumidifiers are the quick solution and as they return heat to the house are not that expensive to run. Do get proper ones though such as the Ebac range

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Reply to
Peter Parry

I know our guttering leaks like a sieve in places. Its old cast iron. It mostly leaks on joints. It leaks in the corner in the kitchen ( dont know about the front), on the joint outside the bathroom to my knowledge, across most of the one side of the house around the spare bedroom and it might be leaky around the main bedroom too I havent looked.

I have told my husband about it but he says its OK and doesnt want to do anything about it. he did say he would go and put some putty around one of the joints. to hold the downpout together but he hasnt done that yet. ;-(

I did ask about getting new guttering but apparently we might have to have new soffits and facias as well - but as far as I can see, the facias are well painted and not rotting. The soffits I am not sure about. I know its old and past it round the front door canopy area.

Husband says it will cost too much. I am not sure how much that is though.

Reply to
whiskeyomega

Yeah but . . . where is the water coming from? It sounds so extreme that some sort of bridging/penetrating/rising could well be happening. Also, have you changed the occupancy?

Before you try 'consulatants' I think this site is worth a look:

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's produced a few videos that raise some interesting questions about diagnosis and treatment. In my opinion - I am certainly not an expert.

Rob

Reply to
Rob

I usually dry on the line outside . I have a pish washer dryer I use sparingly ( as it does run up the electric bill a but. But the main problem is that , I dry my clothes and bring them in and they get damp again!

Even if I leave them in the airing cupboard or over a chair they will get damp even after I have dried them thoroughly/

The bedding is even worse. Its always damp at night, not matter how often I change it or how well I dry the beds out and air them during the day.

I keep being asked this. I dont think so. Its old, put in about 1980 . Wooden framed though. I have opening windows , thats about it.

Reply to
whiskeyomega

Ouch. I feel your pain.

yes..leave alone.

Ok. that's a dangerous mix. But its fixable.

mould spores will automatically generate phlegm production. The cough is good if productive. No mould is better.

OK, then that is where you should ventilate - in the coldest parts of the house. If you can leave the windows open just a crack, or ventilators if fitted, or add some kind of adjustable vent to the outside, it will bleed the steamy air away a bit. The key is to control the ventilation so its not draughty. Chimneys are rather good at this. Shame they are blocked really.

yup. but its better to be alive..first.

adjustable vents in the window frame.

good.

good.

OK.

Now that is odd.

It may be that there is no cavity insulation there.

OK, that sounds like a bit of a failure of the actual cavity wall insulation, or possible the guttering etc is bad and is dousing the wall with water. Its pissing down here. Worth putting on a mac and visually seeing if any water is running down the walls due to leaf blocked or broken guttering..

Mmm. ceiling is bad..again MAY be a leak, or the loft insulation is not fitted to that area properly.

MM. big heat loss there. If you redo the carpets nail down hardboard and seal with duct tape to remove draughts from underfloor. More insulation there is a major exercise tho.

Tell Eco warrior OH that a balance between damp (very bad for health of building and inhabitants) needs to be balanced with ventilation and heating costs.

Perfect eco housing (heat pump, controlled heat exchange ventilation) costs a lot of money and wont pay off in lifetimes of us old folks.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

This is probably part of the problem. You effectively no longer have central heating because you aren't heating the whole house. As air circulates from a warm area to a cold area, the humidity will increase because cold air can't hold as much moisture. When the high humidity air contacts a cold surface in a colder area of the house, the excess moisture will drop out onto that surface.

Before homes had central heating, we tended to have drafts (leaky windows, open fires, etc), and that kept houses dry. You've gone back to spot heating but with modern levels of draft-proofing, and that's very difficult to achieve without cold spots and condensation.

A small vent, usually at the top in the plastic frame. Not always fitted though (not required unless the windows can't be locked in position with just a crack open).

Where does the tumble drier vent to? Outside?

Don't stop cooking. Cover the pan and use a low heat, and the extractor. Water is same temperature if it's boiling slowly or quickly, so you don't gain anything with fast boiling, except condensation.

I wonder if the cavity fill has missed these areas?

As another poster said, it's worth checking to see if the area under the floor has turned into a lake, e.g. due to a water leak. In some houses water routinely pools there anyway, so you need to know what was normal for your house under the floor before the problem. Still worth checking if there's a floorboard you can easily lift.

A dehumidifier might be an option, but they aren't a universal panacea. They are a sticky plaster over a problem, not a fix for the problem, and they can cause plenty of problems of their own, both for you and for the fabric of the house and your furniture.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

not really true. If the cause is condensation, a dh will reduce RH to the point where it stops occurring. Problem cured.

if the whole houses is heated that's true. But if its not, as in this case, it isnt, and a dehumidifier is a cheaper and easier option.

But again a dehumidifier is cheaper and does more.

NT

Reply to
NT

If your house suddenly became damp - and it wasn't before - then clearly something has happened and water is entering the property.

You have to be a 'detective' and note if it is associated with rainfall or not. If not, concentrate on the inside plumbing.

I had a similar experience with excessive condensation in my house in the 1990s, and initially I put it down to my lack of double-glazing. I also brought in a de-humidifier and let it run continuously. But I was wrong about that.

Finally I stumbled on a source of the problem. A pinhole leak had occurred in the main water incomer pipe, and a very fine water spray was emerging - and as I had warm air heating via ducts this vapour was being distributed around the house.

Your problem will probably be something similar, so search for a water leak somewhere - it may be under floorboards.

David

Reply to
David J

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