Waterproof wall panels ( like those used for showers)

[aprilsweetheartrose.]

Its me again. I need more advice. Having successfully tackled most of the damp/condensation in my horrible house, I have come to a impasse this week with the kitchen.

Its only ONE wall - the back wall of the kitchen ( has kitchen door in it) . The wall is on the North side of the house. The cold weather has made this wall drip ( seriously) with condensation. You can tell its condensation. Its only on the one wall. The kitchen is very cold because we have no heat source in there. The end wall is registering at 4/5 degrees all day and lower at night with the very cold weather this week.. The other walls are around 10 degrees. ( centigrade). The humidity is at around 75/80rh. The wall is colder than all the others to touch( as well as damp with water right now). This will clear up as soon as the temp. rises I am sure because I havent had issues all last spring or summer.

I noticed that the kitchen door ( plastic double glazed ) was not suffering condensation. Hence I wondered - would it work ( ie get rid of the condensation) if I had paneling, like that put in shower rooms, on this one wall? Or at least, would it make the wall take the condensation without ruining the paint job or decoration and be easier to clean off mould growth etc?

I am stuck with this wall. Is it the plaster on this wall that is the problem? Have I got to have it knocked off and renewed ? ( I noticed too the wall only has condensation on the original plaster wall , a couple of patches that got re plastered around ten years ago, are free from drips. They are also warmer to touch - so is it the plaster that was used back in the 1950's?

I need some useful advice on this . As always I am grateful for the time and suggestions made by members here. TIA.

[Brian]

What kind of wall is it? Solid, cavity, single brick, …..

What about the roof in that area? Is it a single storey extension, perhaps a flat roof? Is there a leak?

I’d want to rule out any sources of dampness - leaking roof, water coming through the wall, ….. - before I ( possibly) masked a problem behind wall panels.

Of course, if you have ruled out other issues, and you are confident you need to improve insulation, panelling over insulation is an option.

The kind of panels used in showers are expensive - they are very well sealed. You probably don’t need that level of sealing. Look for wallboards intended for decoration and use a vapour barrier and insulation.

[Colin Bignell]

Back in the 1950s, my father cured condensation in one room by buying rolls of expanded polystyrene, about 1/8 inch thick, from the wallpaper shop, sticking that to the wall with wallpaper paste and papering over it.

The modern (and presumably much less flammable) equivalent is a lot more expensive though:

[aprilsweetheartrose.]

The roof is standard built tile roof ( marley tile. No leaks in gutters or roof. The roof was insulated to top standard two years ago. That cured most of the condensation and other issues in the whole house. The wall is sound. Its a bungalow.

Thanks.

[Spike]

Just a heads-up, but are you aware that Google Groups is ending its current service on the 22nd of February?

You will need an alternative supplier and suitable software to access Usenet.

Popular choices are Eternal September for access, and the multi platform easily installed Thunderbird for a news client.

If you plan to carry on accessing Usenet, it might be a good idea to get the alternatives up and running before Google goes off the air.

[Andy Burns]

I has a difficult to miss banner at the top saying so.

A web alternative is

[jkn]

My dad used that everywhere in our (Northern, damp) house in the ... mid-70's. I have no idea if it helped the damp at all. I am sure the idea was more to keep heating costs down.

It ended up with lots of 'puncture' marks when children prodded it etc. I would get a bad vibe from a house fitted with it nowadays.

J^n

[Animal]

The problem is the wall temperature. Below 4-5C causes condensation in most circumstances

75-80% is also much too high. Presumably the high figure is because the room temp is low rather than excess water vapour. A desiccant wheel dehumidifier could help, but you need to fix the lowest wall temp too.

[The Natural Philosopher]

What you need to do is simply put some insulation on that wall, Even cork tiles will do the trick.

[The Natural Philosopher]

My single (4.5") brick cottage in the 1980s had this problem. I used cork tiles

[Spike]

No news client I use has had such a banner at the top.

I’m aware of the issue from the Moaning Minnies of Google Groups wailing that they will have to give up Usenet, which isn’t true. Usenet precedes Google by a long way. Alternatives abound.

I should mention that these are free, as is…

[Andrew]

A 'sound' wall that is 9 inches thick, with no cavity and no insulation, facing North, where cooking and/or washing is carried out, and no additional heating will be running with condensation in cold weather.

My ancient Aluminium-framed patio doors drip condensation when ever the weather changes from warm+wet to cold+dry.

If this wall is a solid uninsulated wall then that is your problem. Either have external insulation plus over-render done on the outside (grants are available for this but are snapped up quickly) or insulate the inside. If there are are kitchen units, sinks etc on this wall then only external wall insulation will be possible.

[Fredxx]

Your only workable solution is insulation and a membrane barrier.

Any wall that is cold will attract condensation. Add insulation to that wall. I've used 25mm polystyrene between battens. Thicker is better.

Then a membrane such as foil backed plasterboard or DPM sheet behind plasterboard attached to the battens.

[Tricky Dicky]

I am using the 12.5mm version of these boards as tile backer boards they have some insulation properties and come in various sizes and thicknesses. The thicker the board the greater the insulation qualities. They are completely waterproof and can be used for tanking. There are various methods of fixing to walls from simply screwing to cementing with tile adhesive or a combination of “dot & dab” and mechanical fixing. Surface finishing could be plaster skim or as in my case tiled.

[Andy Burns]

But if you used google groups, you would see that *it* has a banner at the top warning that the end is nigh ...

[Fredxx]

If the wall is still cold, condensation will still form.

[SteveW]

Isn't the idea that the insulated layer in front of it stops the warm air getting to the cold wall?

[Fredxx]

Without knowledge of the U-factor of the tile backer board I doubt it would make much difference to the internal wall surface temperature. BICBW

Unless the wall is sopping wet from contact to outside earth or similar, all that is required is insulation for the internal wall temperature to match the other walls.

If the wall is sopping wet then a tanking type of approach is needed, probably more than a tile backing board?

[SteveW]

Just stopping the room air reaching the wall should make a difference. Double glazing is made of glass which is quite conductive, but blocking the movement of air and retaining a narrow layer of pretty stagnant air between the layers works well.

But not so much if the wetness is only due to condensation and not actually coming through the wall.

[Fredxx]

Of course, it's the air in double glazing that performs the insulation.

Tricky Dicky used Marmox Board of 12.5mm thickness. That according to:

has a u-factor of 0.33 W/m^2. Better than a 4.5" brick wall, but it might still leave a cold wall.

Yes, that is what I was thinking. Sopping wet implying that water was being drawn, or wicked, into the wall rather than condensation from 'humid' air in the room.