We have lived in our 3 bed roomed detached house since when it was first built in 1972. Over the years, we have added full central heating, double glazing throughout and new upvc soffit and fascias.
Two years ago, we had cavity wall and loft insulation. This made the house lovely and warm! However, last winter we found that the amount of condensation on the windows had increased, plus we noticed wet patches on some of the ceilings next to exterior walls. In our bedroom the wet was actually running down the wall from the ceiling. Also, when my husband checked in the attic, everything was absolutely wet through. We put these problems down to the excessively cold winter that we had during 2009/2010.
We were horrified when, during October this year, we noticed the same problems had re- appeared. I contacted the company who installed the cavity wall and loft insulation by e-mail and attached photos of the problems. However, they have never got back to me – typical, they’ve had their money for the job! We think that the surveyor should really have identified potential problems when he came to survey the property for suitability for cavity wall insulation.
My husband asked a neighbour, who had been a builder before he retired, if he knew of anything that might help. He suggested that we put ventilation in the soffits. My husband bought 30 x 70ml round air vents which he fitted at equal intervals along the soffits. He got these from a local diy firm; they cost £2.75 for a pack of 10.
It was the best money we’ve ever spent! The ceilings are dry; the attic is dry and it is only on very cold or damp days that we get the minimum of condensation on the windows. Amazingly, it has cured the condensation on the windows downstairs as well as upstairs. When we know that the weather is going to be really damp and cold, we make sure that we leave interior doors open when we go to bed, in order to circulate air, plus open the curtains slightly at night in rooms that we aren’t using. This proves to us that you must have air flow in every room.
We cannot believe the difference installing these little devices has made and wanted to share this with anyone else who may be experiencing similar difficulties. This was to be our first step in trying to rectify this problem ourselves – we were considering window vents, de-humidifiers etc. Thankfully we don’t need to do anything else. Hope it works for you!!!
