How to limit damp & mould in property?

[TinyTigress]

We've just moved into a new property and I'm really worried about damp and mould. We had major problems in our old house and even though there's no indications yet of there being any problems in our new place, I want to make sure I'm limiting the risk as much as possible. We've got our tumble drier in a small room that we always keep the door closed and window open when it's running and I always keep the bathroom door closed during and after showers with the extractor fan running for a while afterwards too.

What else can we do to minimise any potential damp / mould? Our tenancy agreement has suggested opening windows every day for at least 15 mins and have the heating on at all times on a low temp - what do you class as a low temp and is 15 mins a day for the window enough? Is there anything else we should be doing?

Ventilation is key. I would open windows for as long as you can. Do you have a dehumidifier? Running one can make a huge difference.

When I shower I have the extractor fan on, then I open the window when I have finished, and switch the fan off.

As pp said ventilation is your friend. We open windows every morning and tend to leave them open for most of the day upstairs.

You can buy those little moisture traps which are handy for sticking behind furniture or on windowsills. It's surprising what they van absorb.

You need a dehumidifier if you dry any clothes inside. Perhaps do it in the room with the tumble dryer ? We have a heated rack and dehumidifier.

I once lived in a basement flat so this was a big concern.

As everyone has said, ventilation. Make sure you have curtains open, let the sunlight in, windows and doors open in summer when you're home.
We always have our bathroom window open, even just a tiny bit in winter.

If you have double glazed/UPVC windows and doors, they should have a vent at the top to have open. Our windows have a lock function where you can have them open a tiny bit.

In winter, having the heating on low/not letting the property get too cold is a good idea.

Try to dry washing outside or in a sunny room at the top of the house if possible and just finish them off in the dryer if needed. Never cover radiators with wet clothes.

We live in a house which is prone to damp and condensation- one year it was so awful it was literally dripping off the light in our bedroom ceiling! We had the felt replaced in the roof with more breathable felt and we had air bricks put in the roof tiles which helps air circulate. This has made the biggest difference.

Be careful shutting doors all the time - you need to keep everything as open as possible (except the bathroom after a shower obviously) and let the air get round. Windows open as much as you can stand it. We have a dehumidifier we run 24/7 when the weather is bad and we can’t open windows.

Another vote for a dehumidifier - we bought one last year and it made a HUGE difference. Opening windows is good of course, but in our house as soon as you close them the humidity rises again, especially in winter with the heating on. (We have a Dyson air purifier which reads the humidity in the air, so we can keep an eye on it).

Got one of these two years ago and haven't had any water on the windows since. Much much cheaper to run than the tumble drier (although I do still use that for some things too), clothes on airers will be dry overnight.

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/cd12p/electriq-12-litre-dehumidifier

Ventilation really is key. The UK is a naturally damp environment and modern life creates far more moisture indoors than older houses are designed for. Inadequate ventilation will lead to damp stale air which can get trapped. Do you have trickle vents on windows? Our our open all the time regardless of temperature. Bathroom and bedroom windows are open 24 hrs a day in summer and just a crack in winter. Only properly closed if sub zero. We try to not let the house get cold so heating is thermostat controlled but set to 18/19 for waking hours. For us it's cheaper than letting house get very cold and boiler having to work hard to get house back to temperature. I use a dehumidifier when drying washing inside. Door closed when showering and window open afterwards. When cooking we use lids on pans and open the window for a short while afterwards if it's got a bit steamy.I also use a couple of those moisture collection pots. They are about £10 for 6 on amazon. I put one in a big built in cupboard which is on a cold exterior wall. I also put a couple in our bedroom behind furniture on the cold exterior wall. Our bedroom is quite small and we like the door shut at night. Even with window cracked open 2 people breathing all night can create excess moisture. Furniture on exterior walls is always placed with a couple of centimeters gap behind for sir to flow. Once mould takes hold in a spot it can very quickly grow back so prevention is always better than cure. It goes without saying exterior causes should be ruled out. I am quite fussy about it but all the above are just second nature now.

I keep several windows on the latch at all times, so there's always airflow. When I'm in the house often the back door is open too. If you can dry clothes outside instead of a tumble dryer inside it will really help too, it's unbelievable how much water comes out of clothes!

What kind of tumble dryer do you have?

Do you have house plants? Do you dry clothes inside?

You need to watch the distance of furniture to outside walls - too close and you'll get mould.

I think the recommendation is not to let rooms drop under 15/16C (by "keep heating on low")

You might not actually want to be closing doors - we were closing the bathroom door to stop the damp air getting out and setting off the smoke alarm but actually a plumber told us it is better if we wait until the initial steam has dissipated then prop the door open wide as well as having the extractor fan on (it has no external window).

It's about ensuring air flow. Do you have a lot of stuff in boxes you never move? That also is prone to mould.

Most of this is horrifying, sorry! https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/27/mouldy-britain-a-foolproof-guide-to-rescuing-your-home-from-damp

Outside make sure that the gutters and drains are kept free of blockages.
Make sure that the ground level outside isn't higher than the damp proof course.
Keep an eye out for water leaks on the incoming supply pipe.

Thank you so much all for the suggestions. To answer a few questions drying outside isn't an option sadly as we live in a flat with no outside space. We keep the airing rack in the kitchen with the tumble dryer. We only use the airing rack for things that can't go in the tumble dryer (like bras, some shirts etc). We have a heat pump dryer with one of those in built containers that collect the water and we pour it out after each load (sorry, I don't know what they're called) and always keep the window open whenever we're drying clothes.

The windows have air vents so those are always open and unfortunately the bathroom doesn't have a window so the extractor fan and using one of those wall scrapers after each shower seems like our best option. That's interesting about leaving the bathroom door open and makes sense to be fair. Does that also apply to the kitchen when we're drying clothes? It gets really warm and feels quite humid in there when the tumble dryer is on so I worry about the moisture spreading.

It sounds like a dehumidifier is our best option. From past experience they're quite expensive to run but I'd rather that than having damp and mould problems.

Our furniture is a good few inches away from the walls, I don't want anything touching the walls and we've managed to get rid of most of our boxes now so the only things not regularly moved are the furniture items like sofa, bed etc.

We've had a dehumidifier for 18 years now, bought in our old house which had damp problems, but have used it for laundry drying ever since. It really isn't expensive to run and in a flat it would deal with general dampness as well. It sounds like you are so limited on natural ventilation that it would be well worth investing