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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

Awful condensation!!

28 replies

Coconutter · 02/12/2012 12:00

I am at my wits end with condensation on the windows. It happens a little bit in all the rooms, but nothing major and wipes off easily. However, our bedroom and the living room (directly beneath it) are awful - regularly can't see out of the windows all day, and the mould has now spread to the bedroom curtains. I can't have the nets up in our room as the wall went spongy so the hook won't stay in. I have tried keeping the windows shut all day and night, keeping them slightly open all day, had a dehumidifier on all day... Nothing is working! It can't be healthy and I don't know what else to do

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 02/12/2012 12:56

does anyone drape wet washing around the house or over radiators?

RightUpMyRue · 02/12/2012 13:00

If we have our bedroom windows shut through the night the windows are dripping by morning. So I always have one open, even through the winter. I also don't have the radiator turned up too high in there.

It's because of warm breath during the night and cold window panes.

RudolphsNoseInMyXmasStocking · 02/12/2012 13:56

Same here. I did actually wipe the 12 small panes that make up my lounge window this morning and realised I would never have the time to go round wiping the whole house every morning. There are days now where the windows do not clear at all and with my youngest having just developed asthma, I'm at my wits end. I had been thinking of buying a humidifier but I reckon I would need more than one. It's a rented house, and I can't see the landlord fitting d/g . I vowed last year I wouldn't do another winter in this house and yet here we still are ....

MousyMouse · 02/12/2012 14:48

heat and airing helps.

heat up = warm air is able to hold more moisture than cold. then open all windows for a bit. repeat a few times a day, at least mornings and before bed. condensation on windows happens because they are colder than the walls (esp if they are not proper double or triple glazed units.

InNeedOfBrandyButter · 02/12/2012 14:51

Same here, I use bars instead of normal wires for my nets, open the windows every day, have vents in my walls always open and tumble dry not aire dry clothes.

Ventilation and heat, a bath towel will dry them quickly if you have time.

PigletJohn · 02/12/2012 15:12

no answers about the wet washing then?

RudolphsNoseInMyXmasStocking · 02/12/2012 16:59

I do put wet washing on the airer - certainly won't dry outside! Always give it an extra spin before I get it out of the washer - don't know if it makes any difference whatsoever. yes, I know that will contribute to condensation, but it's just as bad when I haven't got washing around.

Original poster

Coconutter · 02/12/2012 17:34

Thanks for the replies. If I dry washing indoors I stick it in the smallest bedroom with the dehumidifier on full which seems to dry it quite fast (trick learned from MN!). However I never dry it in our room. The radiator is always on full when the heating is on (early morning and all evening), doesn't need bleeding, and yet it's permanently cold in the room. I don't understand why the other two bedrooms either side of it aren't as cold, especially as one is over the garage.

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 02/12/2012 20:06

much moisture comes from bathrooms where no effective extractor is in use, followed by kitchens and gas heaters with no flue.

a much less common cause is a water leak, perhaps on the roof, under the bath, from a radiator, or a pipe or tank in the loft, in a wall or under the floor.

Original poster

Coconutter · 02/12/2012 20:10

Pretty sure there's no leak (recently had roof fixed) and bathroom is on the other side of the house, as is the kitchen. It's just weird Could it be because our curtains (quite thick) hang over the radiator?

OP posts:

MrsHoarder · 02/12/2012 20:16

Yrs to the curtains. Shorten them so they just hang over the top then tuck then behind when you draw them each night. ATM you are trapping the warn air out of your room. We've even got reflector panels behind our external radiators. Anything to her the heat into the house instead of escaping outside.

And air the house by throwing all the windows open, upstairs and down for 5 minutes when the air inside is warm. It makes a tell difference.

Original poster

Coconutter · 03/12/2012 00:03

Window slightly open. Heating been on all day. Curtains (now going mouldy) tucked up above radiator. Room quite warm. Windows already completely steamed up.

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 03/12/2012 00:16

Do you have a boiler with a pressure gauge on the front, or one with a feed and expansion tank in the loft?

Have a look and a sniff under the ground floor (there is often a loose, uncarpeted board under the stairs). Is it damp?

How old is your house? Have you got a water meter?

ThatVikRinA22 · 03/12/2012 00:22

have you thought of trying a dehumidifyer? it dries out the air and stops condensation.

i have problems but i run a dehumidifyer every night over night and we now wake with dry windows!

HazeltheMcWitch · 03/12/2012 00:41

Is your guttering leaky? Or blocked and dribbling onto wall?
Sounds a bit like the whole wall is damp, rather than you're getting spot condensation.

80sMum · 03/12/2012 00:42

To minimise humidity:
Always turn on extractor fan when cooking. Never use a gas hob as a means of heating a room.
Always open the window and close the bathroom door after use; use an extractor fan when showering.

To combat humidity:
Run a dehumidifier on its automatic setting 24/7.
Open bedroom windows for at least an hour each morning.

piprabbit · 03/12/2012 00:49

I was going to post what Hazel has said about blocked gutters. Next time it rains go and have a look to see if they are spilling over.

Original poster

Coconutter · 03/12/2012 17:07

Will have a look at gutters, thanks. No signs of damp. We have a boiler with a pressure gauge. We had a window man come out who said we could get windows with trickle vents fitted but that'd just be the same as me leaving the windows slightly open (locked, on the vent latch) wouldn't it?

I really am despairing Oddly the dehumidifier works a treat with drying clothes but doesn't seem to collect much water from our room. I also had a bag go mouldy in the wardrobe!! Nothing else was mouldy, no sign of it on the wall, or on the wardrobe itself. I am flummoxed.

OP posts:

nellyjelly · 03/12/2012 17:10

Have you got double glazing? My windows used to steam up easily too in winter but since we got double glazing they are fine.

Original poster

Coconutter · 03/12/2012 17:25

Yep it's double glazed. 70s house.

OP posts:

IAmLouisWalsh · 03/12/2012 17:30

We have just got a ventilator system fitted - it is in the loft and pumps out cool air through a vent onto the landing. It has massively improved the condensation in our upstairs rooms which was terrible. Cost £800, though - ouch!

Cantbelieveitsnotbutter · 03/12/2012 17:42

We have just bought a window vac it's amazing!!! The amount that comes off is crazy. It doesn't solve the problem but surely pouring the water away is better then soaking a towel and then dry it elsewhere in the house

PigletJohn · 03/12/2012 18:06

have you got a water meter?

is your ground floor the original wood, with a ventilated gap, then earth?

Original poster

Coconutter · 03/12/2012 18:27

Water meter, yep. Concrete floor. No other house on the street seems to have the same issue!

Where can I get a window vac? Sounds useful!

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 03/12/2012 18:54

have a look at the water meter with a torch when you think all the taps are off. Is the bubble moving?

An old house will not have been built with concrete floors, they will have been added later. They may not have DPM. Is the floor damp under the kitchen vinyl?

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