How to cope with a musty, mould-prone house over winter?

[TheSecretOfCake]

Short of moving, as we can't

Our house is a bit odd, no central heating and fairly scruffy throughout (paintwork, finish, fixtures and fittings as cheap as possible etc)

We have gas fires in every room but generally only use the one in the living room as it's all open plan with upvc windows and doors, so heats up pretty well. Never use the gas fires upstairs as worry kids will fiddle with them, also they heat up the rooms too much and it gets sweltering.

The upstairs rooms are pretty prone to mould/mildew in winter, both outside walls can't have any furniture against them or the walls and furniture start to smell musty.

We have radiator covers over both gas heaters upstairs, both painted and varnished but as they are on this outside wall they smell so much that it's all I can smell when i go in the room. No visible mould or mildew, just an ingrained musty smell.

One end of my bed was against the outside wall, mattress is fine but the wood of the bed has now caught the musty smell. Argh!

I'm struggling to think of ways to keep on top of this. The windows already need a weekly scrub to get mildew off, now this, its bloody exhausting! Not to mention unhealthy..

Have you got dehumidifying crystals/gels. I mean these plastic tubs than contain substances that absorb humidity. They are pretty cheap and do make a difference.

Captain Oh yes - we had those last year, I'll pick up some new ones. I remember they filled up ridiculously fast so we really do need them. They're on my list!

Try poundland for the crystal box thingies.

Cupboard will probably be ok with door cracked open a bit- no way round it really unless there is a large enough gap under the door. I think you can get slim fit dehumidifiers but you could end up paying more than you want to for it. Measure your space and keep the measurements on your phone so you have them if you spot any dehumidifiers.

Airer in the bath with extractor is a great idea- that should work well too.

open the windows more. You can open the bedroom windows every morning after throwing back the bedclothes. The house fairies can shut them after making the beds.

Does your bathroom have an effective extractor fan?

Argh, we have the same problem in the DDs' bedrooms, both of which have two external walls. Trouble is, their windows are at the front, and it's a bungalow, so flinging open the windows in the morning is not always practical.

I have used the cheapo crystal dehumidifiers - is an electrical one better/worthwhile?

much.

Tip the collected water from a dehumidifier into a jug to see how much water it collects.

Weigh the crystals and it will be a matter of teaspoonfuls.

Definitely. The crystal things are entirely pointless for anything more than one slightly damp cupboard, IMHO. Proper dehumidifiers, OTOH, are magic.

I like to put the moisture traps on the windowsill, 2 per window, seems to help with the condensation but yy to a proper dehumidifier. Ours was anout £40 from amazon, it got a couple of cm of water just after an hour in our bathroom last night. We switched it on after our showers along with the extractor and the air seemed much cleaner too.

Piglet the extractor fan is pretty good, when we first moved in there was a tiny 10x10cm extractor on the opposite wall from the shower. Ridiculous! Much nagging of the landlord got us a proper one installed in the right position, and it's gone from a black mould nightmare to a lovely clean bathroom. Can't believe thw landlord was that keen to cut cirners and save money that he riskec a massive mould problem

Have you got a window vacuum?

I got this one in the Black Friday Amazon sale last year (for £25 I think) and its worked wonders in our damp house. Every morning we used to have water streaming down the windows & it would take loads of towels to mop up (which then had to be dried somewhere - making more damp). A 30 second swish with the vacuum & its all gone. Similarly after baths you can go over tiled walls, shower screens, mirrors etc - you could wait for the water to evaporate, but when you see how much the vacuum collects you can see why it takes a while & makes everything smell musty. Its really cut down on the mould in our house, which is such a godsend. :)

Oh & re the musty smells, have you tried sprinkling bicarb of soda (or talcum powder) on to the affected things, leave overnight, or a couple of days if possible, then hoover up. It should draw the moisture & smells out of the affected bits. :)

It's the drying indoors, you'd improve things no end if you use a decent drier. Also a karcher window vac for the condensation in the bathroom -works brilliantly.

money though

Forgive me if this has been mentioned but you need to heat your house properly, gas is great, just put it on for an hour of it gets too hot. If you're worried about kids fiddling with the fires then guards are the way to go and you can fix them to the wall. I much prefer gas fires to central heating !

And yes, agree with piglet John, windows need to be opened more too, proper hearing and proper ventilation is what you need. My mum has a damp flat and tbh just using the drier has cured the problem.

We don't seem to get condensation on the windows, but it just runs down the walls, particularly behind the furniture in DD2's room. Even if I leave a fair gap.

Any links to decent, reasonably inexpensive dehumidifiers would be appreciated!

I have an idea that Aldi sometimes gets them in. If you look at the website, you can see the promotions they have planned for the next few weeks. I expect Lidl will be similar.

IME their electrical tools are not top quality, but are fairly sturdy and very cheap, and if they have a two-year guarantee, you form an opinion on whether the price means it is worth having if it lasts two years. I have found them very good on returns and refunds.

I have only used large builders dehumidifiers, which work differently and can be the size of a washing machine.

Before you try anything else, always start by opening the windows and ventilating out the damp air.

Doors and windows must however be closed when you use a dehumidifier, or it will try to dehumidify the world.

More dehumidifiers.

Get a hygrometer, £15 from Amazon. That will tell you the percentage moisture in the air. It should be between 35-65%.

You're using a gas fire to heat the house. The products of this reaction (gas with air) are carbon dioxide (fine) and water (in gaseous form, but this will become water vapour). So you're adding a lot of water to the atmosphere.

Cointreau This is the one I have.. It's slimline and works well in our small bathroom. I've got it working in our much bigger bedroom now so will try to pop back and let you know how well it works in a bigger room

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002W4KYAS/ref=wms_ohs_product_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Today, I opened up the windows first thing, the wind kept slamming them shut though for about 2 hours. Then shut the windows, big oil filled radiator on in kids room next to external wall, little one in our room, again for a couple of hours. Obviously too early to see any difference yet but hopefully airing and heating will help. I did the extra spin on the washing machine as suggested upthread, hung half out in the hurricane and half in the bathroom with extractor and dehumidifier on. Dehumidifier got another cm of water All washing now on the line as we have sunshine! Currently have dehumidifier on in our bedroom next to the "problem" wall.

I think it was worse last year as we both worked full time with a v early start and we didn't open the windows until we were home and didn't use the heating or water heater until the evening. Whereas with central heating it comes on without you. That really is a pain in the bum

I did some research about the mildewy smell in the radiator covers, and will try spraying with white vinegar solution then leaving in the sunshine (optimistic!!) to see if that helps.

Other things we're doing - we squeegee the walls and shower door after every shower and wipe round the sealant on the bath as that's where the mildew starts to creep in. We've moved our bed a little as the head end was against the external wall and our heat and breath moisture (yuck) was getting trapped there. So heads at the opposite end, hopefully that will help too.

Thanks Thesecret. I think that might be a bit small for the room - it's quite a large double with a high ceiling.

There's a Lidl nearby.....but what are the chances that they have something on their shelves of random stuff that I actually need?

Just a quick update - tried spraying white vinegar on the mildewy smelling radiator covers (there's no mould or mildew that I can see but the smell is there) and IT WORKED!

I'm so freakishly excited by this. I sprayed them both down, wiped them, then kind of sandwiched them around the oil filled radiator on at full blast to dry them off. They smell lovely! A weird but good trick.

Have also cleared out the airing cupboard and set up a few tension rods at various angles above the top shelf so I can use that bit for drying only. May keep an eye out for a mini airer (if they exist!) for that shelf as it's quite roomy - over 1m squared with space up to the ceiling.

cointreau Unfortunately it didn't really get any water after a day in my bedroom so agree it would definitely be too small for yours too. Hope you can find a good one, let me know if you do!

Vinegar is fab! I love it. My aunty bought me a book with 1001 uses of vinegar. Must dig it out again as it was great.

Glad the smell is gone.

Sounds like the cupboard is a goer for drying clothes. That will be so useful. I really love mine.

Sadly, the only way to cure condensation for good is to ventilate and heat AKA, have heating on with windows open :S.
Close the bathroom door at all times to stop moisture from travelling to other rooms.
Try not to hang clothes indoors, no soft furnishings near walls :S.

Gas heating is a shame, as it also creates moisture.

I use one of the Karcher Window Vacs on the windows if needed, and in the bathroom after morning showers. Once everyone else has left for the day, whoever is home opens as many windows as they can stand for about an hour. I like to think it keeps things from smelling of dog too.

if you have gas fires that vent up a lined chimney or flue, the fumes and steam they produce go up the chimney and away.

However, portable bottled gas heaters are very bad, because they vent fumes and steam into the room. Many gas fitters refuse to touch unvented gas fires.

I have got a related question, hope it's ok here (ore should I start a new thread?). I have a similar old house with a semi-basement vulnerable to damp.

My disabled lodger had a basin put in her sitting room by OT for medical reasons (she rented 2 rooms from me) and asked me to put in a countertop so she could have microwave kettle etc. She was good about opening windows but now she has moved out I can see there was a condensation problem. I think I should install some kind of extractor as I think the next lodger will be using the room the same way. Any advice?

which floor is this? What is above the ceiling?

is the countertop against an external wall?

It is the basement but only 'below ground' by a foot or so except for one corner where there are external stone steps.

The countertop is on an internal wall perpendicular to external wall and next to the basin (other corner from steps) ie next to external wall. My kitchen is directly above so above the ceiling are joists (if that's what you mean).