Condensation / mould

[davek_964]

I currently rent my house to my stepdaughter - although I lived there for over 20 years myself.

There is a built in wardrobe (corner of two outer walls) that has always had a bit of a mould issue - needs cleaning up every few months with mould killer, although putting a dehumidifier in there helps. But the stepdaughter has told me that theirs is half full within a day, which seems excessive.

She's also said that there is significant condensation on the windows - I do vaguely remember that mould would build up very slowly around the edges / seals.

It sounds excessive, so I think I should get somebody to check it. But who - some kind of damp expert?

[alfabeat]

The first thing to check is if they are drying clothes in the bedrooms, have the heating on, keeping doors open, airing the room with the windows open etc. It is these basics that normally largely fix the issues (assuming there are no structural issues with the roof, gutters etc).

Student house landlord for over 20 years.....so deal with this EVERY winter.....and 9/10 it is due to the students drying clothes on airers in the bedrooms and not using the supplied tumble dryer!

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Temps of rooms. Lack of ventilation. Cloths drying as above.

Last on the list is building damp unless you know otherwise.

[Opapayer]

Landlord of a few houses here too. Exactly as above. 99.99% of the time it is people keeping windows and doors st, closing trickle vents and basically sealing the house up to try to keep heat in whacks drying clothes on the piping hot radiators. Long hot steamy showers with closed windows don’t help either. All that moisture has to go somewhere and it will find the cold spot in the house. Ventilation is key, as is not drying clothes on radiators. Put them on a rack in a room with a dehumidifier running and it will all clear up. Dehumidifiers cost pennies to run.

[98elise]

Sometimes you just can't beat it.

We get loads of condensation, hardly ever dry clothes on radiators, and have a dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The house leaks air like a sieve and we regularly vent it.

The humidity sits between 60 and 65, and the windows are running in water every morning.

[TA14]

Jeremy-75qq8 said:

Temps of rooms. Lack of ventilation. Cloths drying as above.

Last on the list is building damp unless you know otherwise.

I do wonder whether clothes drying has that great an effect. For various reasons, I dry clothes inside and have never had a problem with damp. My house isn't remarkable, a 1950s brick built - as was the last one - with plastic windows and reasonable insulation. I open the windows to give it good ventilation for a while each day and have the heating on a bit but my bills are still below average. If you look at the OP, half filling a dehumidifier in such a short time is rather extreme and a big transfer of water from clothes to humidifier.

[Hoofy]

What they said.

If the tenants state that they don't want to run heating/dehumidifier/tumble drier, then tell them to open their windows and wear a coat. It's science, basically. Or a broken gutter or a flood or a burst pipe under the house. But 99% of the time, it's science and ignorance.

[phazed]

98elise said:

Sometimes you just can't beat it.

We get loads of condensation, hardly ever dry clothes on radiators, and have a dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The house leaks air like a sieve and we regularly vent it.

The humidity sits between 60 and 65, and the windows are running in water every morning.

That doesn’t make any sense. I have lived in houses without double glazing and condensation on glass exists but is minimal. Current house has at least 40 year old aluminium framed double glazing and even with a family of six here in the past has never had any condensation whatsoever.

As many have said, fresh air, opening windows, (especially after showers and cooking) don’t dry clothes indoors and you can’t go wrong no matter what the construction of the house.

As a retired building contractor having had contracts with lots of different local authorities we have seen condensation thousands of times, always, always self-inflicted to not adhering to simple practices.

[Crumpet]

TA14 said:

I do wonder whether clothes drying has that great an effect. For various reasons, I dry clothes inside and have never had a problem with damp. My house isn't remarkable, a 1950s brick built - as was the last one - with plastic windows and reasonable insulation. I open the windows to give it good ventilation for a while each day and have the heating on a bit but my bills are still below average. If you look at the OP, half filling a dehumidifier in such a short time is rather extreme and a big transfer of water from clothes to humidifier.

With a condensing tumble dryer with a removable tank you can just how much water is in a load of washing. I would guess an easy 3 to 5 litres, which is a lot of if it goes into the sealed environment of a house to then condense on the cold walls and windows.

[TA14]

Crumpet said:

TA14 said:

I do wonder whether clothes drying has that great an effect. For various reasons, I dry clothes inside and have never had a problem with damp. My house isn't remarkable, a 1950s brick built - as was the last one - with plastic windows and reasonable insulation. I open the windows to give it good ventilation for a while each day and have the heating on a bit but my bills are still below average. If you look at the OP, half filling a dehumidifier in such a short time is rather extreme and a big transfer of water from clothes to humidifier.

With a condensing tumble dryer with a removable tank you can just how much water is in a load of washing. I would guess an easy 3 to 5 litres, which is a lot of if it goes into the sealed environment of a house to then condense on the cold walls and windows.

We had a CTB and the capacity was about 3l. Only had to empty it every 10+ washes, maybe twenty. Airing a house so that you have a fresh start each day helps.

[GasEngineer]

Definitely worth a read through the DriMaster thread.

I fitted one as a result of reading the thread and it works extremely well.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[98elise]

phazed said:

98elise said:

Sometimes you just can't beat it.

We get loads of condensation, hardly ever dry clothes on radiators, and have a dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The house leaks air like a sieve and we regularly vent it.

The humidity sits between 60 and 65, and the windows are running in water every morning.

That doesn t make any sense. I have lived in houses without double glazing and condensation on glass exists but is minimal. Current house has at least 40 year old aluminium framed double glazing and even with a family of six here in the past has never had any condensation whatsoever.

As many have said, fresh air, opening windows, (especially after showers and cooking) don t dry clothes indoors and you can t go wrong no matter what the construction of the house.

As a retired building contractor having had contracts with lots of different local authorities we have seen condensation thousands of times, always, always self-inflicted to not adhering to simple practices.

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

[Hoofy]

98elise said:

Sometimes you just can't beat it.

We get loads of condensation, hardly ever dry clothes on radiators, and have a dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The house leaks air like a sieve and we regularly vent it.

The humidity sits between 60 and 65, and the windows are running in water every morning.

You gotta stop breathing.

It's how it is. I just run a couple of dehumidifiers for about 8 hours upstairs and downstairs.

[Opapayer]

98elise said:

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

Lots of cooking with boiling pans?

[TA14]

Opapayer said:

98elise said:

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

Lots of cooking with boiling pans?

House built out of dry stone walling?

[phazed]

98elise said:

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

Even in this weather, we always sleep with the fan light/fan lights open. I know it makes the room cold but there is never any condensation. Because of this, our four children always do the same in their properties and their partners always complain! do this and you won’t have condensation. If you sleep with the windows shut you will have condensation. Doors should always be left ajar as well.

[Sheepshanks]

Hoofy said:

98elise said:

Sometimes you just can't beat it.

We get loads of condensation, hardly ever dry clothes on radiators, and have a dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The house leaks air like a sieve and we regularly vent it.

The humidity sits between 60 and 65, and the windows are running in water every morning.

You gotta stop breathing.

It's how it is. I just run a couple of dehumidifiers for about 8 hours upstairs and downstairs.

Our grandaughter stays with us one night per week and her bedroom window will often be running with condensation in the morning yet our window will be clear. Both doors wide open and our north facing room gets colder during the night than her south facing room does. The windows seem pretty good - at this time of year they're often misted up on the outside in the morning.

[98elise]

Opapayer said:

98elise said:

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

Lots of cooking with boiling pans?

No, and we always use an extractor when cooking.

[98elise]

TA14 said:

Opapayer said:

98elise said:

Bathroom and kitchen both have extractors, and we use a condensing tumble drier with only the odd top that goes on the radiators. We have a brand new meaco dehumidifier running 12 hours a day. The bedroom windows are drenched in the mornings and rarely dry out. We don't have any leaks.

I know the science however we just can't seem to stop it.

Lots of cooking with boiling pans?

House built out of dry stone walling?

No, 60's built brick and block with cavities.

[B'stard Child]

GasEngineer said:

Definitely worth a read through the DriMaster thread.

I fitted one as a result of reading the thread and it works extremely well.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Same for me - made a massive difference after I'd improved my insulation resulting humidity increases