Damp House

[Ric.ror]

Good morning and Happy New Year to everyone 

my sons house is incredibly damp - it's on the walls and the bed mattresses had mould on them.  This year his partner is intending on moving the radiators on internal walls and locating them under the windows 

she has also been told about some sort of internal device to locate at the top of the stairs that extracts humidity and dispels it outside - not an extractor fan

does anyone have any knowledge of such a thing and its effectiveness 

I sincerely hope each and everyone of you has a very happy and healthy 2024

[Old_Geezer]

My guess is that you need to websearch dehumidifiers and see it any is the extraction system you want.

[johnk]

I doubt if relocating the readiators will make a difference.

Do they dry washing on the radiators?

We use a device that sucks condensation off the windows.

Never heared of a device the can vent outside with no extraction, is it a dehumidifier they can make quite a difference

[davebro3]

Mould on the walls & mattresses is REALLY bad. Any obvious sources of water ingress from outside - through the walls, floor or roof  - should be eliminated. 

Other than that it's a matter of proper insulation, heating and ventilation. Moving radiators won't do much good & extractors/dehumidifiers are probably an expensive and not very effective stop-gap.

Happy New Year!

[davebro3]

Oh - a don't dry washing indoors or cook stuff that produces a lot of steam.

[barry1010]

Dehumidifiers will dry the house out, they are very effective.  The water collects in a bucket that will need emptying or can be diverted to a suitable drain/shower tray. The house needs to be adequately heated but there must be ventilation, too.  If it is double glazed and has trickle vents make sure they are open unless the outside temperature is very cold.

The mould must be treated, products such as sprays are available in supermarkets.

Check the outside of the house.  Are the gutters blocked or the downpipes leaking?  Tree roots or shrubs too close?

Is the damp proof course sound and the pointing in good repair? Is the roof in good condition?  Get in the loft and check the joists and timbers.

First steps, turn the heating up, treat the mould, check for water ingress.

[barry1010]

Meant to add that moving the radiators is a bad idea -more heat will be lost through the external walls and windows 

[naomi24]

Before taking what might not be remedial action, they need to find out what's causing it and address that.

[nicebloke1]

There are more and more people suffering the same problem. While some older homes do suffer big problems for many reasons that just cant be sorted over night, others have this problem due to lack of heating/ cutting back on heating due to cost. This time of year condensation can run down the cavity of the inner brickwork bridging across to the inside  wall. This can happen every winter in small areas, but because we have our heating on more in the winter, (or did) it tends to get dried out very quickly and we dont really see any impact. Obviously in the summer months its not going to happen. Heating not only keeps us warm it keeps our homes dry.

[Ric.ror]

I should add the house is VERY well heated but (imho) the windows could be opened more - I personally sleep in a room where the window is open 24/7 365(6) days if the year 

[barry1010]

My windows are always open too.  Can't sleep in a stuffy bedroom.