Condensation in bedroom

Poor ventilation is the main cause of condensation and therefor mold, see how the chimney helps before proceeding with lining the walls.

 

You would appear to be taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut. Condensation is caused by how you live in your house - your life style. You need to addresss all of your water vapour generating activities - sort this out and your condensation should reduce or even go away. Have a look at the PGA web site which has an excellent section about condensation. http://www.specifypga.com/index/articles/articles_sectionlist/1/Condensation%20Myths%20and%20Facts/

 

I reckon you should check for sources of damp, could be a leaking window in the same room, or a leaking tap or connection in an adjoining room.

 

Sorry, misread your posting....Thought you said bathroom...I was going to say fit an extractor fan, but now I realise that this is probably not an option that you would even consider, but more ventilation is the only option. malkie.

 

Hi GRF.

You aks if repointing will help. If your problem is DAMP coming throught he wall then, yes, it almost certainly would help. If the mould is caused by condensation, then this is an internal problem and needs ventilation and/or heat to prevent it.

I guess your proposed solution - strapping, insulating asnd boarding - should help sort either cause.

There is a product called 'Thermal Laminate Board' (if I remember correctly from when I last bought some) which is plasterboard with a high-quality insulating layer already bonded to it. Nice and easy to use; you might get away with bonding it directly to your wall (but penetrating damp might affectr this) or screw onto battens.

Worth getting professional advice on best approach - unless someone on here comes up with definitive solution?

Remember that condensation will occur in most houses - it's just a case of where the moisture happens to condense that causes the problem; in your case, the coldest (or area with static air) is where your mould forms - for most people it's on window panes where it can be wiped off relatively easily.

 

Hi GRF,
I hope my experience will help you with this frustrating problem but it will mean you forking out about £300. My house was the same but some 10 years ago I found a company called Nuaire in wales who made a fan unit that sat in your loft and gently blew air from the loft into the house through a diffuser that I fitted above the stairwell. Since i fitted this I haven't had an ounce of condensation anywhere and its still going strong after 10 years of 24/7 working. And, no, i dont work for Nuaire before anyone suggests it as I think Vent Axia do a similar unit and there may be others. The only downside i found was in the winter as you could feel the cold air flowing through the house but i found they did a 1KW heater that fitted to the outlet and that helped although the very fact that it pushed rising hot air down again had a similar effect. It works on the principle of keeping the house at a slightly higher air pressure than outside and therefore pushes stale, vapour laden air out through keyholes, door/window vents etc. It also has a thermostat fited so it shuts off in summer when the loft gets too hot. If you've got a very big house then it might not work for you (or you might need two) but it certainly did for my 3 up 3 down. do a google for whole house ventilation, theres loads there.
Simply DIY.

 

Insulating whatever areas of your home you can will help you to conserve heat (really?!!) which, in turn, will help to reduce the period of time (overnight when you are sleeping and breathing in the room) in which the window becomes so cold that condensation forms. That said, the window will STILL be a cold enough spot in the winter and therefore will be where the condensation occurs.

Double glazing will alleviate this, simply because the inner pane will not get so cold, therefore - for a period of the night - will not be below the dew point of the air inside. (This is assuming you heat your house to something like a 'normal' regime.)

The PGA website - yes it is useful, but not all condensation is entirely down to lifestyle. OK, you can argue that it is, but it doesn't stack up if you say to someone "you're breathing, what do you expect?"!

Nuaire pozivent (or whatever they call it now) - yes, a good unit. I used it to stop council tenants complaining of 'damp' when they either weren't heating sufficiently, not ventilating sufficiently, or dryng clothes etc. All 'lifestyle' issues, but sometimes forced by thye pocket. The units put positive pressure into your house (so instead of getting draughts into the house through the windows, etc, they go from inside to outside), forcing moisture out before it condenses. They therefore force your expensively heated air out. Think about other things before resorting to these.

All the best

 

Hello GRF
I live in a house built in 1900 and have the same problem and I am in the process of sorting it out myself.
Here is what Im up to!!!!
I have installed lapvents in the roof space http://www.lapvent.co.uk as condensation is also forming in the loft I have installed 4, one of which is suitable for connection to mechanical ventilation (a fan). The lapvents have sorted out the majority of the condensation problem in the loft and now I intend to sort out the bedrooms. I chose lapvents as I could fit them myself and it was much cheaper than getting a builder in to install a few ventilation tiles into the roof. Dont worry - I dont work for lapvent - I found out about them on here and decided I had to do something before the winter set in to sort out my problems.
Next...
I have 2 bedrooms which I plan to install an extraction point in the ceiling, the duct from these will run to a Y piece of duct to bring them together and then into a backdraft shutter. The duct will then go into an inline fan and then extract out of the roof through the lapvent.
The idea is simply just to get as much warm moist air out of the room between 'bedtime hours'. The fan will be on a timeswitch so it will only operate between 3am and 7am and only between September and May.
If you are going to do this dont forget the backdraft shutter as this will reduce the cold air falling into your room and making it colder during the time the fan isnt on.
If you have good ventilation in your loftspace I cant see any reason why you cant just extract into your loft however, its not advisable as you may notice an increase in condensation up there if your ventilation isnt good enough.
I dont know yet if it will work but I figure its going to make a little difference as I will at least be removing some warm moist air that has risen to the ceiling.
As a previous poster said you could introduce air from outside however, if doing this mechanically it could bring the temperature of the room down too quick and create cold draughts, especially in December/January. However, you may aswell just leave the window slightly open in the night if your going to do this.
The other option is to stop those seamy steamy 5EX sessions!!!
Good luck

 

Just read the posts back and just wondering if the Nuaire unit tempers the fresh air coming in or not?

I looked at them a while ago and was tempted by one on ebay.

One thing is for sure you will either have to get air in (cold) or remove hot air from your room. Either way it results in more heating costs at some point!

 

Bcountry - the Nuaire can heat the air - but that is different from the 'tempering obtained through a heat exchange system. A H.E system uses the warmth in the extraction air to temper the incoming - the Nuaire can heat it via electricity, so you pay for it.

Nuaire will tell you that it actually supplies the 'tempered' air from your loft space - some truth in that unless you have superb loft insulation.

As for your own extraction plans, it sounds like you arecobbling together a pseudo whole house vent. system. These units would perform heat exchange but note: they supply tempered fresh air to the bedrooms / living room and extract from the wet areas - kitchen bathroom etc. Your system sounds ok, but I fear you may pull the moist air from your 'wet' rooms, through the bedrooms and out - possibly exacerbating your condensation problems by spreading the effect. Take care over that.

All the best

 

.....and shut the bathroom door.

A low vent in the bedroom(with a one-way system that prevents air comming in) near the offending dampness, and that will help tremendously.

Only problem with condensation(or mould caused by it) is having to wait a year to see if your methods are working.


....and shut the bathroom door. Did I already say that ?


Mr HandyAndy - Really

 

Put a bowl of salt in the room for 2 days & see how much water it takes in.

 

GRF, there are a few cheap 'n' quick things you could try to improve matters, especially if it's only a localised problem (one bedroom?) and over the winter months:

Mould killer spray (SFD sell it too) to cut down the mould on the wall and help prevent it reappearing.
An absorbant wick along the bottom of the window which you wring out every morning - or even use a towel!
I've heard of anti-mould paint, but have no idea if it works (whether it has anti-mould chemicals, or has some kind of insulating property). Perhaps someone can comment of its effectiveness?
If the problem on the wall is very localised - say just below the window - you could paste on a thin polystyrene insulating sheet, cover with lining paper and paint to match the rest of your walls.
A low power (cupboard-type) heater (60W or so) placed along the skirting below area of problem. etc, etc.

If your chimney doesn't have a vent fitted already, it should really have one, and this could also help your condensation problem.

 

DA
Using mould sprays and paints would only move the problem somewhere else. The condensation problem will not go away just cos you sprayed some stuff on it.

Has anyone installed one of these;
http://www.airandwatercentre.com/store/SEURLF/ASP/SFS/CID.3/PID.281/SFE/productdetails.htm

Its possible that it could help in this sort of situation

 

Fair comment, Bc, but...

If the major problem is the appearance of the mould itself, then getting rid of that would surely be a definite plus. If mould killers/paints/treatments actually work (and I don't know if they do), then during the day the actual condensation on the problem wall should hopefully evapourate away without causing problems. Of course, it'll come back the next night .

Yes, if you simply prevent maoisture from condensing on one surface, it'll then condense on the next coldest surafce it'll find - this is likely to be the window glass, even if double-glazed. At least on this surface the condensation is easier to handle - just wipe it off and mop it up! If this problem only occurs over a few winter months, then this could be all that's required.

I really made my post to give him ideas on possibly helping the situation quickly, and without having to resort to major work.

 

One point in your last post DA - "if you simply prevent maoisture from condensing on one surface, it'll then condense on the next coldest surafce it'll find".

This is not the exact case; many new(ish) homes don't have visible condensation at all - and the BRegs / build quality SHOULD have ensured that interstitial condensation cannot occur....so what's happening then?

If a house is reasonably heated, vented and insulated (and the lifestyle is also reasonable) condensation will not occur anywhere.....as long as the dew point temperature of the air is not reached. We can all quote that warm air will support more moisture, so what I am pointing out is that, if no surface gets cold enough (because of the HIV above), no condensation.

Rads under windows not only help prevent the feeling that there is a draught there (sometimes it isn't leaky windows, just a thermal effect), they also ensure that the area between curtains and glass (we draw curtains to retain heat in the room as well as for privacy) gets some warmth, thereby reducing the period within which the glass MIGHT get to dew point temp.

Not meant to be any sort of lecture to you personally, just get a bit tired of reading (on various threads) the PGA quotes!

All the best

 

Cheers CM.

No risk of me taking offence, honestly (If I think someone is wrongish (PVA & MDF anyone?!), I'll fight my corner - but I welcome being corrected when I am wrong!)

Fully appreciate your points, and my comment on this was certainly simplistic. I simply meant that, in this guy's case, should he succeed in preventing damp from settling on his most troubled surface, it's likely, given his older style of house/ventilation/heating, that the moisture in the air will condense out somewhere else - but that this would probably not be a problem for him as it'll likely be on windows.

Yes, it was a clumsy thing to say; if he does manage to remove the damp from his walls, he shouldn't expect his windows to suddenly start running with water! Any difference is likely to be un-noticable. (Should've kept my mouth shut )