Discussion
I have a damp patch in the top corner of a bedroom. Hardly noticeable until the ceiling started to get slight brown marks and there were similar spots on the wallpaper within about 18 inches of the corner. The wall paper looks slightly damp/discoloured but not so much you would notice it until someone asked you to look.
The roof comes within inches of that corner so I have beem up in the loft today. It is well insulated and dry.
I am thinking it might be damp coning from poor ventilation and air movement rather than coming from elsewhere? The ceiling is very low in that bedtoom (about 7 feet) and drops down to about 6 feet across the tops of the windows. The heating is very por as that room is on the end of the system some distance from the boiler.
When we moved in the windows in that room were painted shut and had secondary double glazing. I removed the secondary glaszing and freed up the windows and routinely open the window slightly each morning to allow moist overnight air to leave. But I still think it may be moist air condensing on cold walls and the ceiling as that corner has both the exposed outer wall (stone with no cavity insulation) and the dipping roof bring the cold air close to the ceiling. There is a gutter in that corner but water runs from that end, so it doesn't carry too much water and I was up on thwe roof lat week claring gutters and moss and it didn;t seem to have a problem.
Solutions?
improve the heating, use the dehumidifier more, improve the ventilation, insulate the loft better, put something like insulated foil on the underside of the roofing felt to stop the cold penetrating and cooling the air in that corner or
look for a cause other than poor air circulation?
I'd say it is more likely to be water ingress. Best to check when it is raining to make certain (unless of course it was raining when last you checked). As to the poor heating; has your system been balanced? Balancing radiators
The rad looks like it has a faulty thermostartic valve. It has a hot inlet pipe, a cold outlet pipe and the radiator is warm at the top and cold at the bottom.
The loft has a layer of black dust from the days before the renovation in the 1980's (house/barn conversion and I think the dust is from the old lathe ceiling which they boarded over) and there is no sign of any water disturbing the dust or damp areas at all.
The loft has a layer of black dust from the days before the renovation in the 1980's (house/barn conversion and I think the dust is from the old lathe ceiling which they boarded over) and there is no sign of any water disturbing the dust or damp areas at all.
MonkeyMatt said:
Any way you can get us some pics?
There is nothing to see at the moment, as the brown bits have been painted over/removed. I will check the pointing but I was up a ladder there last week clearing gutters and it looked fine. The whole house was repointed 3 years ago and looks to still be in good order. Not helped I guess by the neighbours tree shading that corner so it gets no sun.Edit to add: I have just moved the chest of drawers from that corner and the surface mould extends down to the skirting board and had started to form on the back of the chest. I have wiped it all off and there is no obvious damage (e.g. discoluiration) to the wallpaper and set the dehumidifer to work in that corner and will then see what the dampmeter says after a few days. The wall behind doesn't feel that cold or wet.
I am now wondering if the recent re-emergence of my asthma hasn't got a root in the mould a few feet from where I sleep..
Edited by Cogcog on Sunday 26th September 12:52
odyssey2200 said:
do you have down-lighters in the house?
maybe in the bathroom?
No, only in the kitchen which has its own roof space and extractor. The bathroom is below another loft area ( we have 4 loft areas) and the extractor goes out through a pipe to a ridge tile. I did have a condensation problem in that loft before fitting the pipe as it simply extraced into the loft area.maybe in the bathroom?
Had the dehumidifier working all day and the damp readings are......ZERO. Looking like it was poor circulation caught in time....famous last words.
Just been to my mates house for the dampmeter and he has a patch 4 feet up his dining room wall which it looks like is soaking up from his cellar which has flooded to a depth of 30cm. Waterboard say it looks like drinking water and may be from a burst main which is coming up the drains which usually keeps his cellar dry (we are criss-crossed with underground streams and stone gullies under the houses). Water is off for testing. Likely it is actually a local well known spring which has diverted itself as the spring water nearby is crystal clear and ice cold and that is exactkly what he is getting in his cellar.
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