DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi i am new to the forum and at my wits end.

I am in a bungalow and my bedroom furniture has developed mould and mildew on it, it has been washed off once but has returned with a vengence. I have had air bricks fitted and keep my windows open on a lock and have resorted to using a de humidifier at the moment but can't afford to keep it running for ever. Does any one have any suggestions as to what i can do to fix this problem. Thanks in advance

Layne,
If you do not have extractors to the outside in your bathroom and kitchen the try these first. If you have a tumble drier is this vented to outside.
If you do have these then something is generating a lot of moisture in your bungalow. Have a look for CH and/or plumbing leaks.
end

Hi thanks for your reply. Both bathroom and kitchen have extractor fans, tumble dryer is a condensing dryer that is in a is in a store room with an extractor fan in window.

Central heating is fine. it is a real mystery why this is happening. I am still open to suggestions.

Would it be worth me getting a surveyor out?

Thanks.

Opening windows always gets rid of the normal collection of water vapour from cooking washing breathing etc; this works fine on warm days.

On cold days you need to keep the windows closed to save your heat disappearing into the sky, then use the dehumidifier.

There is no point in running a dehumidifier if you are keeping the windows open - we have had some quite wet days recently with a long time high level of humidity, you are really trying to dry out the UK.

May I ask, how long you have lived there?
Has the place always been damp?
Do you have a lot of condensation on your windows?
Do you have a hygrometer and temperature gauge, do you know how much water vapour is in the air in your home?
If so, what is it = humidity at what temperature?
Once you have closed your windows, how much water are you collecting over 24 hours?
Back in the spring we had a really long period of dry weather with low humidity, did you have a problem then?
Do you have lots of children and animals, lots of indoor plants?

Without any knowledge of the place, I would guess you live in the west of the UK, probably in an exposed position?

I would suggest that you buy a damp meter and an infrared temperature gun, with the damp meter you can check your walls, furniture, bedding to see how damp it is, with the infrared temp.gun you can check your walls etc; to see how cold they are, cold walls are where the water vapour will condense into the wall, make it wet and provide an express route out for your heating, a wet wall conducts heat out to the sky several thousand times more than a dry wall.

Use a note pad to keep a record, then you will be able to see how things improve.

It would also be a good idea to buy a weather station with an outside monitor, with this you can see at a glance what is happening outside and inside your home, one that you can connect to your computer and down load a record, will help to monitor progress.

The major cause of damp is turning the heating down or off at any time. Cold air cannot hold the same amount of water vapour as warm air. This is why you need to know what the day time temperature and relative humidity is and what happens when you turn the heating off during the night.

If you know, let me know and I will tell you how low the temperature can be, for that set of figures and at what point, the "dew point" condensation will form.

I think, that you should go outside with a pair of binoculars or preferably, if you have a ladder, take a careful look at your roof, chimneys, gutters and down pipes, to see if there are any slates/tiles broken or missing, check the gutters and down pipes when its raining to see if they can cope with heavy rain.

Go up in the loft with a bright light and carefully check all the wood in the loft to see if there are any damp patches, where the rain is coming in.