Mouldy walls and condensation on my window!!! Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[DaniLaw]

We have a problem at the moment with condensation on our bedroom window. There is often a huge puddle on our window sill every morning! We live in a back to back mid-terraced cottage that is probably 100 years old! Not sure if any damp coursing has been done in the past? Also, more recently we have noticed black patches on our wallpaper (same wall as the window) and the wallpaper has started to peel away from the wall. Is this associated with condensation or a separate damp issue? We did have a guy come out who said it wasn't damp and to take off all the wallpaper from the offending wall! (we haven't yet done this) :oops:

We do dry our washing in our bedroom and we have a blind that sits directly on the window frame! I don't suppose these things help? Any ideas would be gratefully welcomed! :(

[chris_on_tour2002]

when i first met my wife she lived with a girlfriend, they used to dry washing on the radiators, boil kettles, have hot showers and baths, cooking etc and NEVER open windows, not even in the summer! the house was FULL of mould - behind furniture, up in the corners etc. all that moisture just hangs in the air and will condensate on the windows and external walls as they are the coldest surfaces in the house - warm, damp... perfect conditions for mould to form.

when i moved in i made them open the windows for a little while every day. i removed the existing mould, repainted and the problem never returned.

its almost certainly condensation - strip the wallpaper and use a household mould and mildew remover which will not only remove the offending mould but stop it growing back there if you reapply it and leave to dry.

so open the windows more often! get some fresh air in the place.

drying your washing in the house is going to be one of the biggest offenders, but not so much of a problem provided that you have some ventilation - open a window a crack. also open window after baths and showers or fit a decent extractor. same in the kitchen when cooking. ventilation is key here, you have to let the moisture out, even on rainy days the air outside is going to be drier than the air inside.

if this doesn't solve it then it will need deeper investigation (damp course - unlikely if bedroom is on the first floor and you don't have damp downstairs - cracked render oustide - brickwork pointing - leaking gutters, there are numerous possibilities) but eliminate condensation first, i'm sure this will cure the problem.